


One-way Ride

by TeaInBuckets (elle268)



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Hostage Situations, M/M, Magic, Post-Avengers (2012), Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-10
Updated: 2013-09-10
Packaged: 2017-12-26 05:44:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 32,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/962300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elle268/pseuds/TeaInBuckets
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In Asgard the concept of honour was valued overly high, honestly, it made their view of justice ridiculous. When the Allfather decided to banish Loki the way he had banished Thor he could have laughed both at the naivety and the irony of such a sentence. He would not try and regain his powers only to return to Asgard and be just a piece on Odin’s chess board again. But at the same time he would not sit idly by and wait for his enemies to find him, he would get back what had been taken from him, however, he would play by his own rules. But luck was clearly not on Loki’s side when it put one Anthony Stark in his way. So suddenly Loki had SHIELD and the Avengers on his tail plus Iron Man himself as a hostage and the sad fact remained that no matter how bad the situation seemed it could always get worse.</p><p> </p><p>This story is a part of the <a href="http://frostironbang.tumblr.com/">Frostiron Bang</a></p><p>The art post by <a href="http://eatherstar.tumblr.com/"> Eatherstar </a> can be found here <a href="http://fav.me/d6lpl9l"> picture1 </a> <a href="http://fav.me/d6lq9n6"> picture2 </a></p>
            </blockquote>





	One-way Ride

**Author's Note:**

> I suppose I just decided that being human would not make Loki any less badass :)

Loki had wondered if he would have been judged at all upon his inglorious return to Asgard. He wouldn't have had been too surprised if the Allfather had already decided on his fate the moment he had found out Loki was still alive. Now though, after days of waiting during which Odin had conferred with the council, the trickster stood in the throne room where his trial was taking place, about to hear his sentence.

To be honest he fully expected his penalty to be death, he was after all a traitor since he had attempted to kill the heir to the throne. Loki was not sure he had wanted Thor to die back then, he hadn't been thinking clearly, he knew, and somehow those days seemed so distant that he could not fully recall the motives for his actions anymore. But none of that mattered, what had been done had been done, there was no way back now and hadn't been for a long time already. There had never been anything to go back to in the first place.

The realm he had called home for so long had not needed to know of his true nature to hate him.

He could not see the faces of the crowd behind him but he didn't need to, he knew what they all thought, he didn't care. What he could see were the members of the council, seated in two rows on his sides. Well, on the Allfather's sides.

The king himself sat upon his throne, directly in front of Loki, looking down on him with his one remaining eye, his face devoid of emotion. Loki had never been able to tell what Odin thought since he was as skilled a liar as the trickster himself.

On Odin's left there stood Thor, with him Loki could tell he was anxious. Would he protest when Loki was sentenced to death? How far does his supposed love reach? Would he stand against his father to save Loki's life after everything that had happened? He would see soon enough.

He did not want to find out what the person on Odin's right would do though. Sadly, it was inevitable, his mother would bear witness to this like everyone else.

The Allfather stood and the room fell silent almost instantly.

"The decision has been made," Odin said, his voice carrying through the huge room without effort. "Loki Odinson, you have been charged with treason, you attempted to kill the heir to the throne of Asgard, you waged war upon a planet you had no claim to and brought shame to your name."

Loki fought down a rueful smile. His _name_ , Loki was surprised the Allfather had not outright disowned him.

"The nature of your crimes is severe but the crown prince, my son Thor, thinks you can still be redeemed. And I decided to trust his opinion."

So imprisonment it was, not death, that certainly came as a surprise.

"For your misdeeds I cast you out to live amongst the mortals you have wronged as one of them until you are worthy of your powers again."

_No!_

Loki must have had said that aloud because Odin's eye narrowed as he looked down upon him.

"You do not get to have a say in this matter," the Allfather stated grimly. "Your magic will be bound and I shall take away from you your immortality. The sentence is final and is to be carried out immediately."

It was as if Loki's mind could not quiet process what was happening. He just stared up at Odin as panic swelled in his throat. He was so stunned that he did not even resist at first when the guards came to take him out of the room and when he finally did it was no use.

On Midgard he would be vulnerable, exposed, _powerless_. And there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening.

.oOo.

Loki supposed he was lucky that the bifrost was not yet repaired so Odin had had to use the Tesseract to send him to Midgard. It was considerably less eye-catching than the rainbow bridge and no one had actually seen him landing which was more that he had hoped for.

The surroundings were not entirely unfamiliar and it did not take him long to realise he was in New York, the shape of Stark Tower unmistakable and visible amongst the other buildings.

Loki sat down on a bench to rest for a while. His situation looked quite hopeless, no matter how he looked at it. He was alone on an unfamiliar planet, without the slightest idea of what to do not only at the moment but in the future as well. He was tired, hungry, thirsty and in pain since getting his magic bound had not been exactly pleasant, his skin was still sore and oversensitive from the runes that had been etched into it. And he was also a human, defenceless against his enemies should they come for him.

He swallowed against the fear suddenly blocking his throat.

They did not know he was here, he told himself, not yet anyway. But what if they found out? What then? He would not let them get to him, he would have rather died. He could always take matters in his own hands and end his life, now that he was mortal it should have been easy, but the fact that he had expected to get a death sentence did not mean he wanted to die. So the only option that remained was to get his powers back. But first he had to survive in this realm.

Well, he was nothing if not adaptable.

On his way through the streets Loki had picked some pockets so he had money though he didn't know how much it was. Well, he could only hope he had enough to buy some food.

.oOo.

Loki didn't find a place to stay the night at since he didn't have the money for it. So he resigned himself to spending the night in the streets. He had spent most of it wandering aimlessly even though he wanted nothing more than just lie down and rest. But to sleep out there was not something he could afford.

He was making his way through an alley between two buildings when a pair of men turned the corner at the end of it. Loki had every intention to walk right past them but it seemed they had a different idea.

"Look what's here," one of them said, blocking Loki's way.

The god could hear he was slightly drunk.

"What about you just give me your wallet and phone or I'll pretty up that pretty face of yours."

The second one of the pair moved behind Loki to block his way should he try to run. As if he would have.

"What about you let me pass so you don't get hurt," Loki said coldly.

The man in front of him chuckled and pulled out a knife. "I don't think so."

"Well, that is not surprising, I don't think you think all that much."

It all happened very fast. One instant Loki heard the man behind him move and the next the god grabbed the arm with the knife in front of him and slipped under it. The two men collided with a thud and before they could so much as turn Loki brought the arm in his grip down while simultaneously kicking his knee up against it.

The feel of the bone giving way was almost as satisfying as the hoarse cry that followed it.

"You broke my arm!" the man yelled.

"And you state the obvious."

Loki adjusted his grip on the knife he had picked up before he sprang forward and gripped the man's hair, pulling his head back.

"You know, I have had a very bad day," Loki drawled and pressed the blade to the man's cheek, noting the quickening of breath as it drew blood. "And you scums have just made it even worse. Tell me, why should I not just cut your throats and be done with this?" he asked.

"You! Stop, _now_ ," Loki growled at the second man who had just made a step as if to retreat. "Or your friend here will need a new eye."

He moved the knife dangerously close to the said eye.

"P-Please..." the man in Loki's grip stuttered.

"Begging for mercy already? I'm disappointed, I expected you to put up a fight so that I could cut that eye out. Shame, really."

Loki shifted the knife to the man's throat.

"Now, I will remove that blade, I will let you live because I am not in the mood to deal with your stinking corpses and you will both run as fast as you can and hope that I don't change my mind and bury the knife in your back."

There was a string of panicked affirmatives from both men.

"Oh, and my thanks for the knife. Tis a fine blade and I will be happy to keep it," Loki said before finally letting the man go. He stood there until his 'attackers' disappeared down the street and then he resumed walking as if nothing had happened.

Maybe he was really disappointed that they had not fought more, beating them up just might have had improved his mood.

.oOo.

It was that hour before the sun truly came up, when the strange light stole all the colours from the world around, that found Loki finally sitting down. He had wandered into a park and decided to rest on a bench which at the moment looked as appealing as any plush seat he had ever laid his eyes on.

He started to play with the knife absentmindedly.

In the day to come he would have to find a place to stay. And for that he would need money. He could of course keep stealing but with that he would have risked attracting attention, he needed a job. And he supposed that would not be an easy thing to find for him. Loki was by no means useless but with his particular skillset, well, he guessed there were not many opportunities for him on this planet.

He watched his hands move the knife, twirl it around, throw it in the air, catch it, almost without thought, expertly, the same motions he had done many times before. There was no fear of cutting himself, the weapon felt natural in his grip.

He frowned and stilled. Maybe there was a field in which he could make use of his actual skills, Loki thought as he recalled a particular conversation with Barton.

It was a long shot but one worth trying. It was a plan and that was something Loki desperately needed at the moment, a plan that would move him one step closer to his final goal.

. .oOo.

Tony still wondered how it was possible that he had gotten practically kicked out of his own house. Well, not exactly kicked out but Bruce had been very insistent about him getting out of the workshop for a while.

He was still getting used to living with other people that were not Pepper. And not only were they not Pepper but Pepper was not living there at all. The two of them were having a break, whatever that meant, and she was off to California. But yeah, despite his girlfriend having practically left him some months ago Tony was not alone.

At the moment it was just him, Bruce and Natasha at the tower but Steve and Clint were due to come back soon and Thor, well, he always dropped by right when he was needed. The god had said it had something to do with a guy named Heimdall.

The Avengers had become more or less permanent item since quite some amount of villains seemed eager to take Loki's place after what had happened in New York nine months ago.

Tony was just wandering the streets without any particular destination in mind when an unfamiliar shop caught his attention. To be honest, it looked pretty shady, even the name, _'Sybilla'_. It was probably led by an old woman who wore way too much jewellery and scarves and made her living on holding seances for too trusting people.

But it was not the name or the general weirdness of the place that had caught Tony's attention, it was the symbol above the door. He was absolutely sure he had seen it before but it was not one of those generally known pictures like a pentagram for example.

Well, now that his curiosity was piqued he might as well check it out. If nothing came out of this he would just buy some freaky herbal tea for Bruce, the guy seemed to be into that.

There was a melodic chime of bells as Tony opened the door and stepped in. The light in the shop was soft, the air smelled faintly of old books and herbs but not unpleasantly so and the space was full of items that would be used for witchcraft in some cheap flick. Geez, there was even fluffy black cat napping on the counter.

"Welcome, what can I help-"

Tony froze in place when he turned to face the newcomer.

It was no old lady, no, definitely not, it was the fucking god of mischief himself. And he looked every bit as shocked as Tony felt.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Loki seemed to snap out of his stupor and his expression shifted to a false smile.

"I could ask you the same question, Anthony Stark. I did not take you for the sort of person who visits establishments of this type."

"Don't be smart. What are you doing on earth?" Tony asked as he carefully watched Loki move towards the counter and lean on it, seemingly at ease.

Well, Tony was anything but. His mind ran through all possibilities of getting out of the situation alive at the speed of light. He wondered if he should have just bolted for the door.

"Since you are already here I think there is no point in not telling you." Loki sighed. "I am human now and, as a part of my punishment, I am to live here and regain my lost honour."

The god chuckled and it really gave Tony the creeps.

"I think you know I don't believe you. Why wouldn't Thor tell us?"

Why the hell hadn't Tony gone out in his suit? Oh, that's right, because it was in pieces after the most recent fight and all the other suits were in Malibu. And it would have been weird. Great.

"You should ask him, I haven't spoken to him in nearly nine months, since I was sent here in fact. But I suppose he does not want you to interfere."

Loki started petting the cat who had just stirred from its sleep and the sudden movement nearly startled Tony out of his skin.

"Wait, you have been here the whole time?" he asked in shock.

"Most of the time, yes." Loki smirked. "I did not have the flashy arrival that Thor had had when he had been banished. I also had to take care of myself since I knew I would be here for some time."

"So you plan to... find your redemption in a charlatan shop? It's original, I'll leave you that."

Just keep talking, that was a good plan.

"Humans are quite easy to fool, Stark. I did not even have to try much because so many of you already believe in some of this nonsense." He made a gesture to indicate the room around. "And they are willing to pay. I just added something real into this and I became successful."

"Real? I thought you were human."

Loki chuckled again. "You don't need to be a mage to mix some potions."

"I still don't believe you."

"You shouldn't. But I'm not lying to you."

"Yeah, sure," Tony said and shifted uneasily. "I should be going so..."

Now was the moment, now Loki would tell him he can't leave and then he would kill him.

"No one is stopping you." There was a smirk now constantly playing on Loki's lips.

The bastard, he knew exactly what was going through Tony's head.

"Ok then."

Tony moved carefully towards the door, not letting his gaze slip from Loki.

"Oh, but Stark?"

Tony froze.

"Didn't you want to buy something?" the god asked with entirely too much self-satisfaction.

"Eh, no, not really."

.oOo.

As soon as Tony was out of sight he pulled out his phone.

"JARVIS, call Fury, like yesterday would be great."

" _Of course, sir."_

The phone rang just about three or four times before it picked up but it still seemed too slow.

" _Stark, where the hell did you get this number?"_

Eh, better not to delve too much into this.

"Fury, we have a problem, a big, huge, massive problem." Tony's heart was still racing in his chest and he must have sounded a bit frantic. "Loki is here, on earth, right now."

There was a silence on the other end.

" _Are you sure? It could-"_

"I _talked_ to him, I'm sure."

" _Stay there,"_ Fury said. _"I'm sending Romanoff, Coulson, Banner and a team of agents, we will arrest him. Tell me the address."_

.oOo.

"What took you so long?" Tony asked as soon as the others joined him.

"It's really been just five minutes, Tony," Bruce replied with a pointed look.

"Seven, Bruce, seven. Let's be precise."

And he had been checking his phone about every ten seconds of it.

The doctor just sighed.

"So what is the situation?" Natasha asked.

"I met Loki in the shop." Tony pointed to it. "Don't ask me why I went in, it's not important. He didn't leave it, at least not through that door."

"So what do we do?" Bruce asked looking from Natasha to Coulson.

"We go in," Coulson said. "You, Banner, stay calm we don't want any unnecessary damage. Agent Willis," a man who looked like he could lift a car with one hand nodded, "take five agents and look for any other exits."

"Stark."

It was Natasha and Tony turned to her.

"Yes?"

"Take this," she gives him a gun, "you might need it."

Tony was so not looking forward to this.

. .oOo.

"Damn," Loki cursed and bolted for the back of the shop.

It was just his stupid luck that someone who had actually met him the last time he had been on earth would have wandered into this shop, he thought as he collected everything that had an actual value to him and ran up the stairs to his bedroom. He stuffed all the items into an old wardrobe and then scooted the apartment to get everything he did not want SHIELD to get their hands on. When everything was safely inside the wardrobe he closed its door and locked it.

Loki pulled out a knife and sliced his palm with it and then he pressed the hand to the door. Light exploded from the inside of the wardrobe before it fell apart. It was empty.

He just hoped all the items reached their destination but he was confident the spell had been carried out correctly so he would likely find everything stored safely at his house when he arrived there.

With this done he grabbed his suitcase, already prepared for such cases, threw few last things in and ran back down to the shop. It was already nine minutes since Stark had left, maybe he was already out of time.

He found the right spot on the floor where there was a partly drawn teleporting circle hidden under the rug, his personal back door. He had thought that one day he might have had to vanish quickly though he had not thought it would have been because of SHIELD.

Loki finished the circle as quickly as possible, but it was not enough.

Just before he could get in and disappear the front door flew open.

"Don't move!" Romanoff shouted and pointed her gun at him.

The cat that had been lounging on the counter hissed and ran out of the room. Loki chuckled though he didn't feel much at ease.

"Agent Romanoff," he said and nodded his head, "Agent Coulson, Doctor Banner. Stark." He glared at the man. "I should have just killed you, it would be much easier for... most of us."

"Yeah. Should have, could have, let's not dwell on that," Stark said nervously.

He was out of his suit, Loki would have thought he had sent for it, but he had a gun pointed at Loki like all the others, Banner excluded.

"We are here to arrest you, Mr Odinson, it would be better for you not to resist," Coulson said in a very business-like tone.

"Why, Agent Coulson, I am sure Stark has informed you that I am a mere human now, how could I resist you?" Loki put on his best smile.

He could still get out of this, he just had to get into the circle. And not get shot.

"Agent Romanoff."

The woman holstered her gun and instead she pulled out a pair of handcuffs similar to those Loki had worn the last time they had seen each other.

This was the moment.

Loki presented his hands to her but as soon as she was close enough he grabbed her wrist and pulled.

She was good, did not even flinch before she reached for her gun but Loki knocked it out of her hand. She evaded his punch and twisted to get free but he turned with her, not letting go, keeping her close.

They traded punches and kicks, no one really getting the upper hand, for the better part of a minute. Somewhere along the handcuffs got kicked to the side and Loki also realised with dismay that they had both moved further away from the circle.

She swung a fist at him and Loki finally managed to get a good hold of her free hand. Before she could react he pulled at her arms, turning her around, and pressed her flush against him with one arm around her waist, the other around her neck. They were both panting slightly by this point and Loki tightened his hold on her throat just enough to make breathing a struggle.

"Let her go, Loki," Coulson ordered. "You must realise this won't end well for you if you hurt her."

Loki did not move. He was too far away from the circle and though now he could move closer it would have been only with Romanoff. And taking her with him would not end well. Then he noticed Stark had picked up the handcuffs.

He let go of Romanoff at once and stepped back, getting himself closer to the circle, and Stark.

"The cuffs, Stark," Romanoff said.

It took just few steps and the Iron Man was close enough. Loki grabbed him and the next second he had a knife pressed to his neck.

"You should have checked me for weapons, Agent Romanoff."

Loki smirked and took a step back with his new hostage. He could feel the man's pulse racing, his breaths came shallow and quick.

"You are trapped, this won't help you," Coulson said.

Loki stepped back.

"Let go of him."

It was Banner this time.

"Oh, I don't think I will do that," Loki drawled and finally got where he wanted to be. "I will keep him, as an insurance."

The next moment they were gone.

. .oOo.

Tony woke up in a trunk. Panic welled up in him before he remembered how he got there and honestly, even that was worth of some panic. But he was still alive, that counted for something.

But really, a trunk of a moving car was not the most comfortable spot in the world. The bastard could at least let him sit in the car, he hadn't had to knock him out and transport him like a dead body. After a particularly big bump in the road Tony had enough.

"Hey!" he shouted and kicked the backseat with all his might. "Let me out! It's not exactly comfortable in here!" He kicked again and did not stop until he felt the car slow down.

And only when it stopped did he realise that this probably wasn't the brightest idea.

"Stark," Loki growled as he opened the trunk. "I would really appreciate it if you did not destroy my car."

"I would appreciate it if you let me go. We can't always get what we want."

Oh, could you just shut up, Tony told to himself.

"That is true," Loki smirked," but since I am the one with the gun I have better chances that you."

Tony gulped nervously. "Touché."

"Get out."

Well, at least that was an improvement.

.oOo.

The car drive was frankly boring. At first Tony was really scared, Loki's mere presence made him want to run just to get as far away from him as possible. But after about two hours of nondescript roads and absolute silence, because Loki didn't even listen to any music, Tony couldn't stand it anymore.

"So where are we?" he asked carefully.

"You don't really need to know that."

That was not much of an improvement but at least he hadn't told him to shut up.

"Come on, sooner or later we will see some sign and I will know anyway."

"Then I don't have to tell you."

"But you could."

Loki sighed. "Is there anything you need, Stark?" he asked, but he didn't sound annoyed. "Or do you babble just to fill the silence."

"Actually a little bit of both."

Loki's lips curled into a smirk. "What do you wish to know?"

"Why am I still with you?" Tony asked because that was the burning question here.

Though he was not sure Loki would answer.

"Since SHIELD is now aware of my presence here, thanks to you might I add," Loki gave him a displeased look before returning his eyes to the road, "I decided to keep you in case I have to negotiate with them."

"Don't you think they have bigger chance of finding you when I'm with you?"

Because hell if he was going to just sit quietly and wait for Loki to eventually kill him.

"Maybe," Loki replied. "But you understand that this was a decision made in haste and now that you are with me... killing you would bring me only trouble while keeping you can prove as an advantage. And trouble. And SHIELD is currently chasing after your phone, I hid it in a trunk of a random car along with everything else you had with you and the handcuffs"

"So you don't plan to kill me and throw my body to wolves?" Tony asked with hope though he knew he couldn't really trust the answer.

"No," Loki chuckled, probably at the relief that must have been written across Tony's face, "but if you give me a reason I will not hesitate to do it. I have certain plans to complete here, you will stay with me until then. If you behave you will get out of this alive."

Tony took a moment to mull over what he had just found out. He was supposed to behave... yeah, not gonna happen, the first chance he got he was going to run. On the other hand Loki had some plans in motion and Tony's curiosity was certainly piqued.

"I have another question," he said after a while.

"By all means, Stark, ask away."

"Do you have a driver's licence?"

That got an actual laugh from the god.

"Does a fake one count?"

"No."

"Then you have your answer."

.oOo.

At some point they had to stop at a gas station, Tony had been waiting for it. And when the moment came there was the speech he had been expecting to come with it.

"When I get out of the car you will stay in," Loki said in a tone that allowed no objection. "If you attempt to escape or do anything to attract attention I will make you regret it."

Loki pulled over and killed the engine.

"Your hands," he ordered as he reached to the backseat for something, a rope.

Tony had expected to be tied to the steering wheel maybe. But Loki tied both his hands to the door handle and fucking tight too. There went the plan A.

"Look, I don't think this is necessary," Tony said and pulled at the rope experimentally.

"Oh, but I think it is. And I will also lock the car."

Loki was out before Tony could say anything else.

. .oOo.

Loki was just paying for the fuel when loud honking made him freeze.

Stark, damn...

"Is that yours?" the cashier asked.

"Ah, yes." He put on his best exasperated smile. "Children, you know it. I should have taken them with me."

The man laughed. "Yeah, I know it, man. Can be a true nightmare," he said and gave Loki the change.

"Indeed. I should get back there before they burn the car."

The smile slipped off his face as soon as Loki was out the door. He almost ran to the car and wrenched the door open.

"Having fun?" he sneered at the stupid mortal who now looked positively panicked.

Well, he had a good reason for it.

"Not really," Stark said nervously. "The assholes just drove by, didn't even look."

"Be glad they did." Loki started the engine. "Otherwise you would have their blood on your hands."

.oOo.

Loki had expected Stark to try something but that did not mean he was any less angry. He fumed as he sped down the road. Beside him the human was no doubt dreading the moment when Loki spoke again, which was good. Let him cook in it a bit more, the man should have been afraid, he should have not forgotten who he was dealing with.

He pulled over on a vacant road and turned to Stark.

"You attracted attention," he said simply and saw the man stiffen.

"I-"

"What," Loki pulls out his knife, "did I tell you would happen if you did that?"

Stark's eyes were trained on the sharp blade, wide with fear, when he answered.

"That you'll make me regret it."

Loki grabbed Stark's left hand and slammed it down onto the dashboard. He placed the knife at the index finger.

"Would this make you regret it?!" He pressed at the blade, cutting the skin, and watched as Stark frantically tried to free his hand. But he did not let go. "You work with your hands, do you not? Would this be a sufficient loss?" He shifted the knife to cut the skin further, earning a gasp. "Or should I take your thumb too?"

"No!"

The man struggled more but Loki kept his hand firmly in place.

"Maybe I will," he mused. "And then you will have to make new ones, no one will sew these back on because I will make you eat them!"

"No, please... don't-"

"Oh, you are begging now?" Loki interrupted the pathetic babble.

He was rather enjoying this, how he could make Stark show his fear with a threat this simple.

"Maybe if you promise you will not do it again I will reconsider."

The reaction was instantaneous.

"Ok, ok, I won't do it again, I won't do it! I swear!"

Loki smiled in a way he knew made most people uncomfortable. It was adorable how Stark clung to the last straw of hope.

He let him panic for a bit more before he pulled away.

"Jesus... motherfucking, Christ!" Stark cursed beside him as he struggled to calm down.

"Human relationship to your saints is mostly curious," Loki remarked while cleaning the blood from his hands and knife with a handkerchief. Then he tossed it to Stark. "Clean the dashboard too, I will get you the first aid kit."

.oOo.

They arrived at Loki's apartment in the middle of the night. During the months he had spent on Midgard Loki had accumulated a small collection or properties, eleven precisely, most of it small apartments, in case he had ever had to run and hide like now. At the time it had not been SHIELD had been worried about most but that did not matter now.

"So... what are we doing in some Nowheresville in Wisconsin?" Stark asked looking at the building they parked in front of with doubt.

"We are staying the night and possibly the next day, I need to rest. You slept the previous night through but I was driving the whole time." Loki looked around but the street was empty. "Get out."

"I was unconscious in the trunk, you call that 'slept the night through'?" Stark complained but got out of the car without further complaint.

They made it up the stairs and into the apartment without being seen. Once there Loki went to each window and drawn a sigil above it.

"What are you doing?" Stark asked carefully.

"Making sure you cannot touch the windows." Loki finished the last one. "Also, the door can be opened only with this key and I will be taking it with me."

Stark frowned. "You are going somewhere? What happened to needing rest?"

"There are some things I need to attend to," Loki replied already at the door again. "You, Stark, make yourself comfortable, sleep, take the bed if you want but I will be taking it when I return. And do not forget what you promised."

.oOo.

Loki was truly tired. He had been awake for approximately forty-three hours and the stress of the previous day was making itself known by making him yet more exhausted. But he could not afford to rest just yet, first he had to make sure they were not followed.

He walked down the street and into a dark alley where he drank a potion that made him temporarily invisible to humans before he made his way into a vacant apartment from which he had a good view of the surroundings. Now he just had to wait and hope no one would show up.

If SHIELD was following them they would go in to get Stark and Loki would let them, it was not like he would have had any other choice. If that was the case he would just leave the town unnoticed, he had picked up all the important things from the car on his way out so he would not have to go back.

If they were followed by someone other than SHIELD, well, those would wait for Loki to return and then they would attempt to talk to him, they did not want to get on his bad side, yet, so Loki would be able to deal with them.

Loki pulled out his phone and dialled the first number he would call that night. He had not been completely lying when he had told Stark he had some matters to attend.

" _Mark?"_

"I had to leave the shop so don't look for me there."

. .oOo.

Tony was looking for a way out. To say the little adventure with his finger nearly getting cut off had been a bit discouraging would have been an understatement but that didn't mean he was going to give up. So he ran through the whole apartment looking for weak spots and found none. Then he tried to pick the lock, because screw Loki and his magical key, throw things at windows and in the last resort he attempted to kick the door open. Nothing worked and the only thing he succeeded in was making something terribly wrong with his knee. He shouted for help but either the place was soundproof or no one else actually lived there. Or they were just huge dicks.

He slumped down onto the couch which was almost surprisingly uncomfortable. Loki didn't actually live there, that much was clear. There was nothing even remotely personal about the space, no books, no decorations, not even any clothes.

But the hard couch fit Tony just fine, he knew he was not going to sleep anyway since he was barely able to do so at home let alone here where he was practically a prisoner of the guy who had tried to take over the world with the invasion that played the lead role in Tony's nightmares. The fact that Tony now believed that Loki was really human did not help much since the guy was still scary as fuck. His face-off with Natasha was pretty fresh in Tony's memory though it shouldn't have been that surprising. Loki had probably had better training that anyone on earth.

Which only meant he was still dangerous. Tony would have really liked a chat with Thor or possibly with the big daddy Odin. Since when was earth some sort of detention centre for wayward asgardians? If he ever saw Thor again the guy would never hear the end of it.

That was if Loki didn't kill him.

.oOo.

Loki came back around six a.m. with his suitcase in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other. He looked Tony over disapprovingly.

"You did not sleep," he remarked and shook his head. "It is your loss, now you will have to take the couch."

And that was all he said before he walked to the bedroom and shut the door behind him. Tony just sighed and prepared himself for a long wait.

In the end he lasted just something over two hours in which he ate, stared out the window and managed not to doze off. But two hours should have been enough time for Loki to fall asleep and not wake up so easily, which was kind of important for Tony's next plan.

Tony got up and walked over to the bedroom door. He opened it without a sound and slipped in. Loki was lying on the bed obviously asleep which was a relief since this would have been really difficult to explain. Tony went to his suitcase to look through it first. He was looking for either the key or Loki's phone but didn't find either. Well, he knew it couldn't have been that easy. He reluctantly moved to Loki's bedside and bingo, the guy slept with his phone in his pocket as well as probably the key. Should he have tried? On one hand it was his only chance but on the other... if he failed he would lose his finger for sure this time. He took a deep breath and reached for the phone.

It was a dreadful moment but when the phone was halfway out Tony started to hope. But it was too soon since right then Loki stirred.

Shit.

Tony's breath caught and a spike of fear shot through his stomach. He slowly, very slowly let go before just as slowly backing out of the room. He didn't dare to breathe until the door was closed again.

"Oh boy..." he breathed out as he sat down on the couch. "That was really stupid."

He suddenly felt incredibly tired. Maybe he should at least try to sleep, better on this killer couch than in the car. Yeah, he would do that.

.oOo.

When Tony woke up from his thankfully dreamless sleep he had a kink in his neck and Loki was gone once more. For lack of better things to do, and also because he was starting to smell, he took a shower, made himself a sandwich and then he tried to pick the lock again. No luck there.

Loki got back when it was dark already and threw a bag at him.

"I brought you a present."

Loki smirked and walked to the kitchen. Tony gave him a dubious look before he peeked into the bag. It was full of clothes.

"Thanks, I suppose," Tony said and pulled out a blue plaid shirt. "Though I must say this is awful."

"Oh, excuse me if it is not to your taste," Loki said in mock regret. "Should I fetch you something else? And consider your answer because I am holding a knife."

"Eh, no. This is great, I love it."

"Good."

They left that night and no one saw them, which was quite disheartening.

.oOo.

They altered between sleeping in motels and various apartments that Loki clearly owned and Tony wondered on more than one occasion where had Loki gotten the money for that because there was no way the shop in New York had earned him that much. But he didn't ask since he knew Loki wouldn't have answered. They didn't talk much which was really kind of frustrating because it had taken Tony about one day to get terribly bored. A few days later Loki obviously couldn't take it anymore and bought him a book, _A Game of Thrones_ , of all things. Probably because it was thick. Well, since Tony had already seen the series he might as well read it.

It was the evening of their twelfth day on the road when Loki's phone rang. That did not sound all that eventful, true, but since nothing eventful had happened since Tony's attempted escape and Loki's phone had never rung before... it broke the routine.

"You know you shouldn't be on the phone when driving?"

Loki ignored him and picked up.

The change in his expression was subtle, the slightest tightening of his lips, a small furrow to his brow. He was distressed.

"What do you want?" Loki hissed.

Tony would have paid a lot to be able to hear the other end of the conversation because Loki was not talking any further, he just listened and after a minute hanged up.

"So... what was that about?" Tony asked when Loki just kept driving as if nothing had happened.

"That is none of your business," the god snapped angrily. "It is not important."

But it obviously was because they did not stop for almost two days.

. .oOo.

When they arrived at the cabin it was early morning. Normally Loki would not choose to stay here in a situation like this since it was more secluded than his other hideouts and that paradoxically offered him less protection. But now that Stark was with him he could not risk attracting attention of police in case of a confrontation.

Though he had hopefully lost them when he had changed his course.

He still did not know how had they found him but he was grateful that Scott was a smug bastard who had had to call him about it. They had obviously changed their strategy in dealing with him but if they thought they could coerce him into joining them they were sorely mistaken. He had no desire to waste his time with a bunch of human halfwits who though their minor amount of natural magical ability made them mages.

"So will you finally tell me what's going on?" Stark asked, annoyed. "Who are we running from?"

"We are not running, Stark."

Loki was not in the mood for the man, he was almost asleep on his feet.

"Oh please, I'm not stupid."

"Sometimes I am not sure of that."

"Don't change the subject."

Loki sighed. "I do not have to tell you anything so shut up and let me sleep," he growled.

That made Stark relent. Loki did not look at him anymore and just slumped down onto the couch and fell asleep almost instantly.

.oOo.

Loki did not know what woke him but he had a feeling something was wrong.

"Stark?"

"Hmm?" The man looked up from his book.

"Do you hear something?" Loki asked and got up.

Stark frowned and tilted his head towards the window.

"A car," he said the next second.

And yes, there was a car coming closer and this road did not lead past the cabin.

"Damn," Loki cursed and pulled out his gun.

He normally kept it in the car but the situation called for more caution.

"Ok, I don't like this one bit," Stark said carefully, getting up.

"Come," Loki ordered. "And stay close."

Loki led Stark out through the back door. They moved around the house quietly to be able to see the road. There was a car standing not so far away from Loki's own and another one further down the road, so far Loki could see seven people.

There was a gasp behind him and then a dull thud.

"Stark? What-"

The man was lying on the ground, unmoving.

_No..._

Loki did not even manage to turn fully around before everything went black.

.oOo.

When Loki woke up next he was in a room without windows, he guessed underground. He was tied to a chair but the rope was not very well secured. Given time he could get out.

After a few minutes the door opened and a familiar figure of a red-headed man in his early thirties entered.

"Scott," Loki greeted in what he hoped was his most fake cordial voice, "I would say I am glad to see you but I am not."

The man just laughs, forced and bitter.

"Mark," he said, "you should keep your tongue in check, it won't help you now."

"What do you want to do with me, Scott? Hold me here until I join your little circus?"

"You do know a thing or two about circus, don't you?" Scott snapped. "We have a name now."

"I do not really care," Loki remarked.

"We are the Wiccans," Scott informed him anyway and it was as original as Loki had expected.

"Do you even have anything to do with Wicca?" he asked.

"Actually not much, but it sounds good."

"No, actually it does not."

Scott hit him across the face.

"Short temper," Loki said and spat a bit of blood on the floor. "It will not do you any good."

"It will not do _you_ any good to provoke me," Scott growled. "To answer your question, we don't need you to join us. We have other means of extracting information."

"But you want me." Loki smirked.

"You are more trouble than you're worth though now you made up for it a bit. You brought us someone more valuable than yourself." Now it was Scott's turn to smirk. "Tell me what were you doing with Tony Stark?"

. .oOo.

Tony wondered how many people managed to get kidnapped while being kidnapped. Probably not that many. But he was already a pioneer of weapon engineering and clean energy, he could be one in this field too. He could write a book about it once he got out of this shit. _Kidnapping Squared_ by Tony Stark, that could work.

The room he found himself in was absolutely bare, there was literally nothing, just four walls and a door. It was a bit claustrophobic, really.

It wasn't long before he heard steps on the corridor. His heart was beating like mad when he moved to stand behind the door and waited.

He grabbed the door as soon as it opened and smashed it against whoever was behind it. There was a satisfying sound of a head colliding with metal and then a body hitting ground. It was a young woman, not unconscious from the hit but too stunned to stop him from taking her gun.

"Get in," Tony ordered pointing the gun at her. He sounded much calmer than he felt. "Give me your phone."

She did as he said and he left her in the room, locking the door behind him.

He was in a corridor of what was probably an underground complex. He had no idea how to get out, how many people could be between him and an exit or who the hell were those people. But at least he wasn't locked up anymore and if he had to fight he had a gun.

. .oOo.

Oh, Stark, Loki would have to find him before he got out of here. Or maybe it would have been better to just leave him here, the imbeciles would surely have demanded a ransom and then SHIELD would have taken care of them.

"I do not think it is any of your concern who I am friends with," Loki said.

"So you are friends with Stark?" Scott asked doubtfully. "Sorry but I don't believe that."

"You can of course believe what you want."

Scott frowned at him and when he did not speak for a while Loki seized the opportunity to get some explanations.

"How did you find me?" he asked.

A very self-satisfied smile spread over the other's face.

"A coincidence, at least at first. My friend saw you and she called me in time for me to start searching. I almost lost you but I guess I was lucky."

Loki let a bit of his surprise show on his face. He had suspected but had not really thought it possible.

"I was not aware you could _search_ for people."

"I seem to have talent for it," the man said. "My radius is still small. But you can see I improved a lot since you last saw me so who knows what I'll be able to do one day."

"Do not be too confident," Loki scoffed, "or you will be sorely disappointed when you reach your limit."

"You would know about that, huh?" Scott snapped angrily. "I will never understand how some dick without a speck of natural talent like yourself can know so much about magic!"

Loki stayed utterly unimpressed by the outburst.

"You are right," he said. "You will never understand. You will never know what I know, never get a taste of true power."

"You are weak!" the man shouted. "Don't talk about power, you are weaker than any of us!"

"But I am still better." Loki smirked, very pleased with how he could work the mortal up with simple truths. "Do you think that just because you discovered a new talent of yours or because you learned how to make yourself invisible you can ever reach my level? You are but a child playing in the dirt-"

Scott hit him again, harder this time, but it just made him laugh.

"Shut up!" the man yelled in outrage and Loki laughed more while working his hands free behind his back.

"Or what? You will slap me?" Loki mocked which earned him another hit to the face.

That was when the door flew open and Loki stared in genuine surprise.

"Step away from him, Weasley, and drop the magic wand."

Stark entered the room with an unfamiliar woman and a gun pressed to her head.

Loki did not have the slightest idea why he had called Scott 'Weasley' but then he still did not know why Stark had called him 'Reindeer Games'. Midgardian pop culture was lost to him, he at least assumed those names had origin in it.

Scott moved away and dropped the knife from his belt to the ground.

"Hey there, I came to save you," Stark said in Loki's direction.

"How noble of you. But I did not need it."

Loki stood up and threw the rope aside. The shock on Stark's face was very satisfying, though not as much as the one on Scott's.

"Scott," Loki bent to pick up the knife, "I genuinely hope to never see you again."

He suddenly lashed out and cut the man on the cheek.

"You bastard!" Scott screamed clutching at his face.

"Stark, we should go," Loki said as he wiped the blade on his shirt. "Scott, give me your phone."

.oOo.

"Why exactly did we leave the hostage behind?" Stark whispered as they scaled the staircase.

"She would just slow us down," Loki answered just as quietly. "And do not forget that those people are magicians, no matter how measly, she could have something hidden up her sleeve, quite literally."

Loki still did not know why Stark had come back for him. Surely the human did not think Loki would let him go just because he had helped him when Loki had not even needed it.

"Isn't it weird that we didn't meet anyone yet? I have a bad feeling about this," the man said when they arrived at the ground level.

"They do not know we escaped. And they are really not that many from what I know."

"It would be nice to know who _they_ are, just saying."

"Do not sulk, I had no reason to share information with you."

There was a window down the corridor and Loki pointed to it, Stark just nodded.

"I will want answers late-"

They both heard someone coming towards them from behind the corner. There was no time to hesitate, Loki grabbed for the nearest door and pulled Stark inside. They ended up in almost complete darkness and waited, holding their breath until the sound of footfalls passed the door and disappeared.

"Le-" Loki began but Stark clamped a hand over his mouth.

He was just about to bite it or possibly stick a knife in it when he noticed they were not alone. The room they found themselves in was actually a bedroom and there was someone sleeping in the bed. Stark removed the hand and nodded towards the door.

"Do not do that again," Loki whispered once they were outside and on their way to the window.

"Believe me, I wouldn't if I didn't have to."

It was night and very dark where they got out through the window but the front of the building was well lit. And that was where the two cars stood.

"Should we risk it?" Stark asked quietly.

"We will have to."

It was not like they were somewhere in wilderness, probably a town or maybe even a city, but it was night so they could very well pursue them and there was also the added chance of Stark running away.

There were not many places to hide on the way to the cars so in the end they had to risk it and run across the illuminated area as fast as they could. But when they were about halfway to their target there was a sudden commotion inside the building. The front door flew open just as they took cover behind one car and the first shot rang through the air.

"Shit," Stark cursed and peeked out to shoot so quickly he could not have aimed for anything.

Loki yanked open the driver's door.

"We have to damage the other car," he said as Stark moved to shoot again.

"Give me the knife." The man handed over the gun. "Only five shots left. Don't let them kill me and start the car."

Stark jumped behind the other car and Loki shot, he got one of them in the shoulder. Four.

He thanked the Norns they had blessed him with a bit of luck this time when he saw the keys in the ignition.

"Stark!" he called as the engine sprang to life.

He shot again, not even aiming. Three. The next moment Stark was beside him.

"Get in, would you?" he said and Loki did not even think about it before getting into the passenger's seat.

He was glad he stayed down when a bullet hit the window above his head. Then Stark hopped in and they were speeding down the road, followed by two more shots.

.oOo.

"I would _love_ to get some readings of this, a lot of readings," Stark rambled. "Yeah, I've decided, I'm going to build a teleport, the next thing on my to do list."

The man was still clearly shaken by the events of the past hours but now the excitement of new knowledge at his fingertips overweighed that. The unbidden curiosity on his face almost made Loki smile. As far as humans went Stark was... acceptable.

"I do not think that is something you could do without an actual mage assisting you," Loki remarked without looking up from the circle he was drawing.

"Don't underestimate me," Stark said from above him. "Could you give me some commentary?"

Loki sighed but decided to indulge the man.

"The teleporting itself is carried out between two such circles. One marks the point of destination, which means you or some other had to physically travel to the destination first. This circle will work until it is destroyed by some outer force but the one I am drawing now, which obviously marks the point of origin, will vanish together with us. So it is a one way travel."

"And how it's started? How do you decide where do you want to go? Or is each pair different than the other?" Stark asked, crouching down beside him.

"It is not different. And you decide with your thoughts, you initiate the process with your thoughts as well."

Stark was quiet while turning the new information around in his head.

"You will have to explain this a bit more to me, later," he said.

Loki chuckled. "I could spend a lifetime teaching you the ways of magic."

"Hmm, I don't have that long to spare. So tell me, does distance matter at all for this?"

"Obviously this spell is meant for transport within one realm," Loki replied. "There are not many means which you can use to cross between the realms. Bifrost is one of them, Tesseract other and there are... other means as well. I do not think anyone has ever tried the radius of this spell on Midgard since not that long ago travelling around the world was very difficult for you and a few centuries ago you did not even know the extent of this planet. And I found the spell in a very old scroll, written in a language long dead."

"Wait," Stark interrupted him, "so those wizards can't teleport?"

Loki stood up and Stark followed him.

"I cannot be sure of that," Loki said. "Come. Let us be gone."

.oOo.

When they reappeared it was a bit lighter outside but still barely dawn so Loki went to turn on the lights in the apartment.

"So where are we?" Stark asked and dropped down onto the couch. "Oh god, this is comfortable. And here I thought you were totally hopeless, couch-wise."

Loki snorted. "I did not pick any of the couches. And we are in Texas."

He went to the kitchen to pick up a metal bowl and pour in about half an inch of water. He had a spell to perform.

"What's that for?" Stark asked when Loki sat down beside him on the couch.

"I have to make sure that halfwit, Scott, will not find me again the way he did." Loki pulled out the knife and cut off the part of his shirt stained with Scott's blood. "He has the ability to determine a person's location when given the general area."

"That's actually pretty cool," Stark said and watched as Loki used chalk to write the appropriate spell on top the coffee table.

"I would not call it 'cool'." Loki placed the bowl on top of the runes. "It is troublesome."

He threw the blood-stained cloth into the bowl, making Stark jump at the puff of smoke that followed, before taking up the knife again and rolling up his sleeve.

"Oh god no." Stark winced as Loki slid the blade over his forearm. "Why does there have to be cutting involved?"

Loki let his blood drip into the bowl.

"There is power in blood," he said and pressed his sleeve over the cut. The shirt was ruined anyway. "But it also says a lot about a person and that is why it is used here. Now, give me your hand, Stark."

The man stared at him as if he had grown a second head.

"No, you know what? I don't think so," Stark stated with a nervous chuckle.

Loki sighed. "Do not be a baby, I need your blood too."

Stark groaned but stretched out his arm for Loki. He made an exaggerated pained grimace when the knife broke his skin, which Loki just shook his head at, but he did not complain any more.

"So that's it? It's pretty anticlimactic," Stark remarked as he observed the dark crimson substance in the bowl.

"Not quite." Loki dipped his finger in the bowl and drew a sign on the back of his left hand. "Your hand, Stark," he ordered.

Stark complied and then studied the symbol carefully with a frown.

"I know this," he wondered aloud before his face lit up with recognition. "It's the symbol from above your shop's door!"

That surprised Loki, he had not expected Stark to notice such a small detail.

"You are quite observant."

Stark grinned. "Was that a compliment, oh your highness?"

Loki did not deem that worthy of an answer.

"Anyway," Stark continued, "I knew the symbol before, that's why I went in in the first place."

He had wondered, so it had been curiosity that drove Stark to the shop. Not surprising.

"It is a general protective sign, you probably saw it on Thor's armour or a medallion perhaps," Loki explained.

They went to wash their hands, take care of the cuts on their arms and they ended up back on the couch. Loki waited for the inevitable.

"So... I have questions," Stark began.

"Yes."

"First of all, I've been thinking about this for a while, how come nobody recognizes you?"

Loki turned his head to look at Stark. "I did not expect this to be your first question."

"Well, I know it comes a bit out of the blue but seriously, you tried to take over the planet, the footage of your face was all over the TV and except for the shorter hair, which by the way looks really good, not that the long hair didn't, anyway, except for that you look the same. It's not possible that no one recognizes you, I recognized you on the first sight!"

The man looks at him expectantly.

"That would be Odin's doing," Loki explained. "As long as I am human no one, except for those who knew me before as Loki, in person, will recognize me as my old self. Unless they are told it is me. I do not look different to them, they just do not make the connection."

It was more than useful. Without it Loki would have had been arrested within days of arriving but it had not been Odin's initiative to give him this protection. It had been Thor to demand that Loki have the same chances as he had once had. But Loki did not want to think about Thor.

"Cool," Stark said. "Now to that mess yesterday- Who are they? What do they want? And what do they want with you?"

"You do know that I do not have to tell you anything?" Loki inquired but he did not mean not to respond.

Talking to Stark was somehow liberating, he was the kind of person Loki would have had kept around before, intelligent, witty, snarky.

"Oh, come on!" Stark whined, putting on a very longsuffering expression.

Loki sighed as if it was some great bother.

"Fine," he said. "They call themselves Wiccans, they are a group of people with more or less low amount of natural magical powers, magicians. As for what they want... they are very ambitious. Their meagre advantage over other humans gave them a taste of power and they want more, I am of course not privy to their plans but they aim high. They are not well organised though so if SHIELD catches wind of them they are done for."

"So they are done for," Stark stated.

"In the near future," Loki added. "Scott found me about six months ago and asked me to join them. I laughed in his face but he kept coming back, more and more insistent, and I turned him down each time."

Stark was quiet for a while.

"Why do they want you so much?"

Loki frowned at him.

"Don't get angry," the man added quickly. "But you don't have any powers now, do you?"

"No," Loki did not bother to hide his sour expression, "but I have knowledge and they want it."

They fell silent again and this time Loki almost dozed off, the exhaustion catching up with him.

"I know this might be pushing it," Stark's voice pulled him out of his half asleep state, "but what do you plan to do? Not about them but in general?"

Loki thought about just ignoring him but he really had no reason not to tell Stark certain things.

"I will get a new car, a new phone. I will drive around the country and meet with a few people who I believe have information that will help me get back my powers and once I have them back I will leave. Odin will not be happy that I have bypassed his punishment so I will have to. And I will not mourn the fact, it is not like there has ever been anything here for me."

. .oOo.

The past month had been a vast improvement from the time before they had been kidnapped. Since their escape they had been actually communicating beyond the necessary minimum, Tony had even gotten Loki to buy some music for the long hours on the road, and day after day he had gotten to know the god more. It was weird to find out he kind of liked the guy and he had a feeling that it was mutual, at least when Loki wasn't in an especially bad mood which he was whenever he came back from meeting one of his contacts empty-handed and not a step closer to getting his powers back. Though when he really thought about it liking someone like Loki was not at all out of character for him, the god was actually a lot like Tony himself (and if that didn't sound narcissistic) and still they were far from the same. But liking Loki or not he knew for a fact that if he got a real chance he would bolt without a second thought. And it was not like there was much trust between them, Tony trusted Loki not to kill him... or maim him and well, that was it. Loki, Tony thought, didn't trust him at all, he didn't trust anyone it seemed.

Now, on the forty-seventh day of this fucked up road trip, they arrived at an old house on the edge of a town in Washington. Tony didn't care much for the climate here, too cold and damp for his taste.

The moment he walked through the front door he noticed this place was different from all the others they had stayed at before.

"So you are finally taking me home? I'm flattered. Will your parents let me sleep over?"

Loki didn't dignify that with answer.

"I would not call this place home," Loki said instead. "But it is the one place I have lived in beside the shop in New York since I settled on Midgard."

"I wanted to ask you," Tony began, looking around the living room slash kitchen, "how did you even get to that shop? Don't tell me you just woke up one day and thought _that_ would be a great idea."

"No, as surprising as it might sound I did not." Loki strolled into the kitchen to put away the groceries. "It belonged to one old lady and I used my unique talents to get it when I realised its financial potential."

Tony knew his horror must have shown on his face because Loki gave him an incredulous look.

"Gods, Stark! I did not kill her! I thought you noticed I try to stay out of that kind of trouble while here."

"Well, yeah..." Tony felt a bit stupid to assume that but to his defence this was Loki and it had sounded like that.

"I meant my charm." Loki smiled in a way that _would have_ been charming if Tony hadn't known him. "She took a great liking to me and I convinced her to retire and leave the shop in my capable hands. She had only one condition, that I take care of her cat. She did not really like the animal but did not want to put it in a shelter."

"Well, I think now it's in shelter anyway," Tony said as they moved to the couch.

"But that is not really my fault, is it? I liked the cat, if you had taken a bit longer to call SHIELD I would have taken it with me."

Yeah, as if Tony didn't know he should have had waited one more minute back then.

"Sorry," he said, "but your cat is not the reason I regret that."

"Obviously." Loki smirked.

.oOo.

They were eating dinner when Tony decided to breach a more serious topic.

"Does coming here mean we will be staying for some time?" he asked.

Loki seemed mildly surprised at the sudden question. As days went by the god became more open with his expressions around him, now Tony could tell that he had been wearing a carefully crafted facade most of the time and in fact still was around other people.

"Actually yes," Loki replied. "I have already met with everyone I wanted to around the country, there is just one person left and she lives nearby. And I am convinced that no one is following us, so I took us here where we can stay."

"If you were worried about someone following us why didn't we teleport?" It seemed like the most obvious choice.

"Teleportation of this kind is useful but it can be followed," Loki explained. "I do not really think that anyone on Midgard can do that but I did not want to risk it."

Tony nodded in acknowledgement while he formulated his next question, a much trickier one, he was not at all sure Loki would even answer it. It was a testament to how delicate it was that he was actually thinking how to best say it.

"I noticed," yeah, that was a good start, "that you've been... edgy lately. And it gets worse every time you come back from meeting one of those contacts so... what's wrong?"

Loki was quiet for so long that Tony thought he wouldn't answer. But he wasn't eating either so maybe...

"There is nothing wrong," he said but there was the facade again. "I just want to get my powers back, that is all."

"It's not just that," Tony insisted because he was not buying it. "It's not just about wanting, because I know you are damn sure you will get them back eventually, it's like you are running out of time."

A minute tightening to Loki's mouth was his only reaction but Tony took it as a confirmation.

"So that's it, you are running out of time... for what?" Tony asked. "Tell me, is someone after you?"

This time Loki's hands clenched into fists and a thought crossed Tony's mind that perhaps he had gone too far. He held his breath as he waited for Loki to say something, do something but the god just sat there with his eyes trained on his own hands. It felt like a small eternity before Loki sighed and those hands relaxed their grip.

"I..." Loki paused but then he seemed to make up his mind about something. "I have made enemies, many of them over the years and some are more dangerous than the others. And some want their revenge. Wiccans or even SHIELD... that is a child's play."

Tony had suspected as much. So as long as he was human Loki was a sitting duck, he needed his powers to protect himself or escape, more likely considering Loki still planned to disappear as soon as he got them back.

"They will not stop until they find me and there is not a place in the universe where I could hide," Loki continued. Tony could have imagined it but his voice seemed a bit strained. "So I will have to fight or run and in my current condition I can do neither."

"Who's after you?" Tony asked.

A pause in which a flick of anger, no, hatred crossed Loki's face.

"The chitauri's leader, he is called The Other, and... his master."

"Wait, aren't they supposed to be like... your allies?" Tony asked in confusion because this was just hard to believe.

To improve Tony's confusion Loki got up and picked up his plate to put it back in the kitchen.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Tony turned to look after him.

"This conversation has done nothing to improve my appetite," Loki stated with very obviously faked nonchalance, so he wasn't probably even trying, Loki was scarily good actor.

"You didn't answer my question," Tony nudged when the god didn't turn to come back.

"I just have," Loki countered but Tony knew it was not like he didn't get his meaning.

So he didn't react to that, which was a great effort on his part. In the end Loki sighed and turned to face him.

"What do you want to hear, Stark? That my allies betrayed me? Or that I betrayed them? Or that they were not really my allies?"

"It would be nice to hear the truth," Tony said because yeah, it would have, after all those months he would have liked to know the answers to all the questions that had remained unanswered after they had defeated Loki.

Thor had explained nothing to them, the only thing he had said had been that Loki had gotten punished for his crimes. But that was not enough for Tony, he wanted more, he wanted to know everything because the only thing they all knew was that Loki had lead an alien army to earth in order to take over it and hadn't even succeded in taking over one city. Besides their name they didn't even know who those aliens were or where they came from, or how had Loki gotten to them and how had he gotten them to aid him. There were just too many missing pieces from this puzzle for Tony to put it together. And he needed to put it together to know why. Why had he had to fight aliens on his planet? Why had he had to fly a nuclear missile into the space? What was the reason why he had to be kept awake at night by nightmares? His hands shook from just thinking about it.

"The truth..." Loki chuckled mirthlessly. "The question is would you believe the truth when it is not what you wanted to hear?"

"We won't know unless you start talking."

It took Loki a moment but in the end he relented.

"I am not sure how much you know about the events in Asgard prior to my disappearing. What you need to know is that the bifrost was destroyed and I fell into the abyss left after it. It was a long fall, I saw things you cannot begin to imagine, the deepest darkness and the brightest light, and I was powerless to stop it. I just kept falling, if felt like eternity."

Tony had to try very hard to control his breathing and not think about wormholes and spaceships blowing up in front of him. If Loki noticed his distress he did not comment on it but Tony was not sure he did notice, he seemed lost in the memory.

"When I finally got out I was half mad, I could not tell apart reality from imagination anymore. I found myself in a very distant and dark corner of the universe and that was where I met The Other, or rather he found me. I discovered later on that I had not simply ceased to fall but someone had pulled me from the abyss and it had been The Other's master. Even back then I knew he had not done it from the goodness of his heart. They wanted the Tesseract. The deal was simple, I bring them the cube and they give me an army to subjugate Midgard.

"I do not actually remember when ruling this realm came into the picture but after what had happened in Asgard it seemed like something I should want. It took me a long time to sort everything out in my head and realise that I did not and that they would not let me keep the planet anyway. They would have destroyed it, truly destroyed it and killed every human on it just to please their master. And then they would have moved on to Asgard."

"Why didn't you fight then? Or just walk away?" Tony asked suddenly. "You could do that once you were here."

"That is hard to explain," Loki sighed. "To put it simply I... did not have the will to. The Other's influence on me was vast and the brief time I spent on Midgard was not enough to get rid of it. And I was angry, furious. The most I could bring myself to do was to be a bad general and make sure they did not get the Tesseract. Which I succeeded in thanks to your little band and that is also why they now seek their revenge upon me."

"And do they know you're here? Should I be worried?" Tony really didn't want the aliens anywhere near him again.

Loki shook his head. "No, not yet. But they might find out any moment. I assume it was SHIELD who confiscated the sceptre?"

Tony nodded before he even thought about it.

"And SHIELD is now aware of my presence here. You see, the sceptre can bend the will of people around it, if some agent is too influenced by it they can eventually get in contact with The Other. And believe me, they would tell him everything he needs to know and in the end they would obey his commands.

"And even though The Other does not currently have the means to get a whole army to Midgard, not to mention he lost a big part of his forces, you should be worried."

"Why?" Tony asked and no, that was not a note of panic in his voice.

"You destroyed the entire army sent to this planet including the mother ship, he might seek retribution."

Well, shit. So some crazy space warlord had him on his revenge list, no biggie.

"Are you all right, Stark?" Loki asked and frowned, Tony understood why when he noticed he was breathing a bit too quickly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm great," Tony stuttered. "So what do you plan to do about the sceptre? Destroy it?"

"Once I regain my powers, yes. I will not let him get it back," Loki said resolutely.

"So you will just stroll into SHIELD and take it?" Tony didn't bother to hide the doubtful tone.

"Actually, I plan to teleport," Loki stated with the barest hint of smile.

"You know, maybe I could chat up Fury into giving it to me, explain the circumstances..."

"Do you really think he would just give it to you?" Loki clearly doubted it.

"Ehm... no. But I could lie."

Loki chuckled lightly. "Thank you for the offer but this is, as you would say, my mess to clean."

They were quiet for a while, each one lost in their own thoughts.

"So do you believe me?" Loki asked in the end.

"I'm not sure yet," Tony said and made a momentary decision. "But if it's true, I'd like to help you if I can."

Oh, if Tony had ever seen Loki shocked it was now.

"What?"

"If what you're saying is true then it would be better if you got away from here as soon as possible because someone could come for you and I also don't want the guy who sent his army to earth to control someone from SHIELD. Also the sooner you get to go the sooner I get to go."

Tony grinned at the speechless god, he really enjoyed breaking people's expectations of him.

.oOo.

"So who's this lady?" Tony asked as Loki pulled over.

"She is an old friend from Alfheim, though 'friend' is perhaps a bit too strong a term to use for her."

Loki killed the engine and they got out.

"She is an elf?" Now Tony was really excited, he couldn't help but imagine Cate Blanchett as Galadriel though he knew he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up.

"Indeed, she is."

They arrived at a plain black door and Loki knocked rather forcefully. Tony raised his eyebrows at that.

"She is not one for pleasantries," Loki explained.

A moment later the door opened and a woman in her early fifties appeared, wearing a scarf around her head and very big sunglasses.

"Get in," she ordered without any preamble. Right, no pleasantries.

The house looked pretty normal on the inside, maybe a bit old fashioned.

"It is good to see you again, my friend," Loki said when they arrived to the living room.

"Oh, spare me the small talk," she sighed and took off the scarf and the glasses. "But then I guess they teach you this growing up in the court, my prince."

Tony tried very hard not to stare but it was difficult. She had a pair of rather long pointy ears (one would have thought Lord of the Rings would have prepared you for this but no) light brown hair and there was just something off about her eyes. Tony realised the irises were slightly bigger that those of a human.

"I have already told you I am no prince of yours," Loki said.

"Old habits die hard and as far as I know Odin did not disown you. But let's get back to business." She turned to pull something from one of the shelves along the walls. "I hope you understand you owe me a great favour for this."

It was a long, cylindrical, wooden case, carved with symbols that were not even vaguely familiar to Tony.

"Of course." Loki took the case and opened it to check its contents. "Thank you."

"Yes, yes, now get out." She waved a dismissive hand around.

Well, that was abrupt, Tony had not even spoken a word the whole time.

"And here I thought we would talk like old friends for a while," Loki said with his 'polite' smile.

"The only thing I would like to talk to you about right now is why is Tony Stark here with you but I know you would not tell me so we have nothing to talk about. Now go, you are wasting my time."

.oOo.

"I say we go get a lunch," Tony said as soon as they were out of the door. "And I suggest we actually sit there and not eat it in the car."

Loki looked at him with doubt. "I do not want any problems," he said but that was not an outright no so Tony did not give up.

"As surprising as it might sound, people don't actually recognise me all that much." He put on his sunglasses and baseball cap he had taken to wearing outside. "See? A whole new person." He grinned in his most charming way.

Loki just sighed and shook his head. "Come on then."

They choose a small dinner across the street. On his way through the door Tony bumped into a man, he snatched his phone.

They settled in a booth and a waitress got their orders.

"So... I've wanted to ask you for some time..." Tony began when their drinks arrived.

"What is it?" Loki raised his eyebrows in question.

"You said you got the shop from an old lady, how did you even get to know a lady who owned that kind of shop? And what were you even doing before the shop?" Tony asked. "Don't tell me you were just wandering the streets."

"You would not believe me," Loki said with kind of mischievous expression.

"Try me."

Loki smirked. "I worked in a circus."

Tony just stared at him. No way...

"You're kidding me," he said but Loki just kept smiling. "Oh my god, you are serious."

The god laughed at the shocked expression Tony must have been wearing.

"What were you even doing there?" Tony asked in disbelief.

Loki shrugged. "Throwing knives, mostly. That is also where I met Lady Sybilla, she knew the circus' fortune teller."

"How did you even- wait, no, don't answer that. Clint."

"Indeed. Barton mentioned his experience during our unfortunate time together," Loki explained.

Their food arrived so they paused in the conversation until the waitress left again.

"I still have hard time imagining you throwing knives in some flashy costume," Tony remarked once they were alone again.

"To my defence, my skills are not particularly asked for here. And I had some say in the costume design."

The lunch went by like most of their meals together the only reason was that neither used the other's name. When they finished eating it was time for Tony to realize his plan, it would be risky, but he had to do it.

He excused himself and went to the men's room, glad that Loki no longer thought he would run away through the window there so he did not go with him. Once there he pulled out the stolen phone and dialled JARVIS, he had to go through the process of voice identification and enter several passwords, but in the end he got through to his AI.

" _Welcome back, Sir. I must say it's nice to know you are alive."_

"Hey, JARVIS, I'm fine. I need you to deliver a message for the Avengers, Pepper and Rhodey and allow them to replay it to whom they want to. You won't give them any specific information about the call, not the time, not the number and especially not the location, nothing, I forbid you from trying to trace this phone."

" _Of course, Sir. But are you sure this is wise?"_

"Not one bit," Tony said. "But I think there is something I must do here. Now the message."

" _You can start at any time."_

Tony took a deep breath. "Hey there everyone, this is Tony, but you knew that.

"I'm calling to tell you I'm ok, you don't have to worry about me but I hope you all miss me. You are now asking why I don't want you to know where I am, well," Tony sighed, "let's say I have a little project going on here and... I have to finish it. I don't actually know where it's going yet but I'm not going to blow it now. And by the way I know you don't approve."

. .oOo.

Had it been too long?

Loki checked his phone again and got up. He did not think Stark would try to run, which he knew was not all that logical, but there was still the slight possibility they could be followed by someone from Wiccans and they had waited for them to part.

He arrived at the bathroom door and was about to push them open when he heard a voice coming from the other side.

"I have to go," Stark was saying. "I hope I'll see you soon, bye. That will be all JARVIS-"

It was as if someone had punched the air out of him. Loki turned on the spot and walked back to the table.

This should not have come as a surprise, it really should not have so why did he take it as a betrayal? He had been stupid to trust the mortal but... he had wanted to.

Stark got back, they paid and left and the whole time till they got to the car Loki acted as if nothing had happened. But when he started the car he let his well-worn mask of indifference fall into place.

"Umm, we are not going back yet?" Stark asked as Loki sped down the road in the opposite direction than they had arrived from.

"No, we are not," Loki said curtly.

Stark was quiet for a moment, obviously put off by his tone.

"And where are we going?" he asked in the end.

The anger bubbled up inside of Loki and he abruptly pulled the car over and turned to look at Stark.

"I think I have changed my mind," he hissed. " _We_ are not going anywhere, get out, now."

"What?! Why?"

"You know damn well why."

Stark's face fell and it looked like he visibly paled. "Loki, it's not what it looks like."

"Oh, please tell me what it looks like," Loki sneered, seeing red. "Like you offered me your help and four days later you call my enemies to inform them about my whereabouts? I think that is also exactly what it is!"

"No! I didn't tell them where we are, that's not why I called!" Stark insisted.

"Then why?! Why could you possibly call them if not get them here?!"

"Because there are people who care about me!" Stark shouted, matching Loki in volume. "And they must be worried sick, hell, they might think I am dead!"

Loki was momentarily taken aback. He had not thought about that, about any other possibility.

"Why should I believe you?" Loki snapped even though he knew there was not really an answer to that.

"I don't know, you don't have a reason to," Stark answered. "But you could try."

Loki looked away and ran a hand through his hair.

"Trying could cost me my life," he said. He wanted to trust Stark but his whole life told him that he should not have trusted _anyone_ , everyone lied and if someone should have known that it would have been him. But Stark sounded sincere...

"Let's go back, Loki, please. I swear there won't be anyone waiting for us."

Loki looked back at the man and studied his face. There was no sign of lie, no ill intention.

"Damn, why am I doing this?" he mumbled and turned the car around.

.oOo.

"You can seriously read that?" Stark asked dubiously, studying the scroll Loki had laid open on the coffee table.

"Of course I can," Loki confirmed. "Acquiring it would be rather pointless if I could not."

Stark glared at him. "Don't be a smartass, I just haven't seen anything like this before."

Loki was surprised the man was still with him. No matter the circumstances, Loki had given him an opportunity to leave and though it remained unspoken the possibility was still there.

"Anyway," Stark continued, "do I get it right that this is the spell that will give you your powers back?"

"No."

Stark gave him an odd look. "Now you are just confusing me."

"Let me enlighten you then." Loki smiled slightly. "The spell that was used to bind my powers cannot be broken by a mere human. A group of Asgard's most powerful magicians placed it on me, not that they are all that mighty," he scoffed, "but it means it will take a powerful magician to lift the spell."

"And... you know someone who could help you?" Stark asked.

"Yes. And this," Loki tapped the scroll with his finger, "will help me contact him."

. .oOo.

Tony had been driving for almost twenty hours and honestly, he was fucking tired. He really admired Loki's solidarity, the god had gotten up with him at two a.m. to see him off even though he really hadn't had to. Tony on the other hand had had to since he planned to arrive to Malibu around eleven p.m.

The reason why Tony was travelling to Malibu at all was to get one of his spare arc reactors.

When Loki had read the whole scroll he had discovered he would need a powerful source of energy. They had discussed it and had come up with few possibilities, like for example stealing the electricity from half the town or waiting for thunderstorm and trying to catch the lightning or getting an arc reactor. Needless to say the last one was the most plausible.

Tony was still not sure why he was helping Loki. He just had a feeling that he should have. If what Loki had said about what had happened to him was true, and Tony believed it was, then the god had been through hell and back. And a very sobering thought had occurred to Tony that he, who had been through hell himself, could have very well ended up like Loki hadn't it been for the people close to him. But Loki had had no one to pull him out of that hole, in a way he was still in it. So maybe if Tony tried to get him out... he didn't know but maybe he could do some good.

He parked the car and pulled out a flask with a potion that, according to Loki, should make him invisible. Well, Tony was a bit doubtful but it (hopefully) wouldn't hurt to try so he drank it.

And he had to walk the rest of the way to his house as not to be spotted. Which was humiliating.

"JARVIS?" he whispered once he was at his door. He had called his AI the day before to make sure the house was empty and that he would get in as quietly as possible.

The door opened without a sound and Tony crept in. He could not turn on any light until he got to his workshop so he navigated with a hand on the wall. It went well till he got to the stairs where he tripped and nearly fell down.

"God fucking damn it!" Tony hissed as quietly as he could make himself. "I'm sneaking into my own house, that's so fucked up!"

"I would state my opinion on the matter, Sir, but it would not be polite."

Tony entered the code for his workshop and got in.

"And here I was thinking you would support me. Lights."

The workshop lit up and Tony sighed happily. In the corner DUM-E made an excited whirling sound.

"Aww, I missed you too, all of you, but I'll be going soon."

He went to get the arc reactor and after a brief consideration the Mark V suit and his phone.

"JARVIS, how did everyone react to my message?" he asked.

"They were relieved you are alive and well, however, their opinions on your decision not to report your location were all some variation of bad."

Tony scoffed. "It's your opinion too."

"I would not say that, Sir. I believe you have reasons for what you are doing."

"That I do."

Tony sat down in front of his keyboard and turned on the camera.

"I will leave them another message. Send it... tomorrow at nine p.m."

"Of course, Sir."

Tony started recording.

"Hello everyone, it's me again, the one and only." He waved at the camera and grinned. "I know you were not all that excited by my last message a week ago and you probably all think I'm insane but hey, when was I ever not?

"Sadly, I'm not coming back yet, and I can, I am here all alone. But I'm still working on my project. I'd like to say I have a plan but I don't, it's more of... an idea. I can't tell you what exactly I'm talking about... you could guess that it's about Loki."

Tony ran a hand through his hair and shifted in his chair.

"I don't really know what I want to say here just... don't worry about me, I'm fine. I'm taking my suit with me, just in case, and my phone too so you can call me though I'm not saying I will pick up. But I will definitely call you. I will see you soon."

Tony turned off the recording.

He looked around the room longingly and sighed, he would have loved nothing more than to fall into his bed and sleep but that would be too risky so he would have to stop at some motel to get his four hours.

"Ok, there is no sense in drawing this out." He got up, grabbed his thing and fished out some box to put the reactor in to hide its light. "I'll keep in touch, JARVIS, and remember, not a word about what I was doing here."

"Of course. And Sir?"

"Yes?" Tony said halfway through the door.

"Good luck."

.oOo.

It was almost midnight when he got back to the house. It was empty but he hadn't actually expected Loki to be there.

The god had left the same day as Tony to go back to the cabin where they had been attacked by the Wiccans. Tony had told him that it was risky but Loki had insisted that he must have gone get his journal, why now Tony didn't know. But it could have been just because Loki hadn't wanted to take Tony with him.

He had originally planned to wait until Loki got back but in the last forty-six hours he had slept less than three so in the end he just flopped down onto the couch and he was out in matter of seconds.

.oOo.

Tony slept surprisingly well, no nightmares disturbing him, and he woke up around noon. But his sleepy contentment lasted only until he remembered that he shouldn't have been able to sleep this long. He went to check Loki's bedroom but no, the god hadn't come back yet.

He told himself not to worry, it was not like Loki had been gone that long, he didn't have car after all.

Yeah, there was no reason to get nervous.

Except hours kept passing and Loki still hadn't shown up. And before Tony knew it was midnight and he had spent the past god only knows how long pacing around the living room. And he was worried, even though he knew quite well that Loki could take care of himself, it was eating away at him and he found himself already planning how he would get Loki back if the Wiccans captured him. Which alone was completely ridiculous since logically speaking Tony didn't have any reason to risk anything for Loki.

In the end he just thought fuck it and pulled out his phone. Loki had told him not to call unless hell came crushing down upon earth or whatever but Tony guessed three full days of absence without a word was good enough.

He ignored the plethora of missed calls and dialled Loki's number.

And a polite pre-recorded voice informed him the number was currently unavailable.

"Shit!" Tony shouted and threw the phone onto the couch.

This was going to be a long night.

.oOo.

It took another fourteen hours before Loki arrived and by that time Tony seriously contemplated putting on the suit and heading to the cabin himself.

"What happened?" Tony asked, ignoring the tremendous relief he felt at the sight of the god.

Loki looked a bit put off by the concern in his voice and gave him a half-hearted smirk.

"Why, Stark, were you worried about me?"

"What if I was?" Tony snapped before he could stop himself.

The god stared at him for a moment and Tony hated that he couldn't read his expression.

"Do not be silly," Loki said finally and shrugged off his jacket to reveal his bloodied shirt.

"What the hell?!" Tony stared at the blood with wide eyes. "Seriously, mind telling me what the fuck happened to you?"

Loki sighed and went to retrieve the first aid kit from the kitchen.

"I was attacked." He sat down on the couch and started unbuttoning his shirt. "I shook them off. And I got my journal."

Tony just stared as the shirt came off because it revealed quite gruesome looking gash along Loki's upper right arm.

"I'm not an expert but I really think a doctor should see this," Tony said and he totally did not wince when Loki pressed a gauze swab soaked in antiseptics to the wound.

The minute tightening to Loki's lips was the only sign that he was not really impervious to the pain.

"That is not really a possibility for me. Besides, the bullet barely grazed me."

"But it looks really bad-"

"Stark," Loki stopped him with exasperated sigh, "if you want to be of some use shut up, come here and take over."

The god didn't sound angry, just very tired and maybe it was the fact that he was not actually commanding but suggesting that made Tony stop pushing. He took the swab and sat down.

"You do realise I am allowing you to do this only to make you feel better?"

"I actually thought it was to stop my bitching," Tony remarked, earning a short laugh from Loki.

"That as well," the god said.

"Thanks, anyway."

Tony started to wipe at the partly dried blood. Once cleaned the wound looked much smaller and less serious but as the skin came into view Tony noticed something else. Before, he had been too worried to look anywhere but at the gash itself, now though he saw that it crossed a line of crimson red symbols tattooed on Loki's arm. He followed the line down, where it ended just above the wrist, and when he leaned back he could see it curved along Loki's shoulder blade to entwine with other lines and create a pattern that covered his entire back.

"I didn't really take you for the 'tattoo' type," Tony commented as he paused to take a new gauze swab to clean the wound itself once more.

"It is not there for decoration," Loki said and his shoulders tensed. "Those are part of the spell that was used to bind my magic. The runes were burned into my flesh with the ink."

Loki's voice was distant as he spoke the last part, most likely lost in the memory. Tony didn't want to think about how much it must have hurt to have that large area of skin burned, no matter how metaphorically since the tattoos did not look like it.

"This needs stitching," Tony pointed out when he was satisfied with the cleaning. "Do you have the tools?"

"Yes, in the kit."

"Are you sure you don't want anything for the pain?" he asked as he put on the gloves and pulled out the sterile needle. He was really not looking forward to this, he repaired machines not people. "Because this will hurt."

Loki gave him a bemused look. "Stark, get on with it, I can take a few stitches."

Tony tried to be as swift as possible while not totally butchering it which, to be honest, was not very swift because it was not like he did this every day. He had actually never done it before but the wound was not very deep so he guessed he did just fine. And the whole time Loki just bore it with clenched teeth.

"Like new," Tony remarked when he finished and wrapped Loki's arm in a clean bandage.

He packed the first aid kit and got up to put it back in the kitchen when Loki stopped him.

"Stark?" The god was looking at him with an expression Tony couldn't read.

"Yes..?"

"Thank you," he said more softly than Tony had ever heard him speak.

It was kind of worrying so Tony decided to write it off to tiredness.

"You're welcome...?" Tony said uncertainly and grinned. "It's not like the stitches are even good."

"For staying," Loki explained.

It was the first time that it occurred to Tony that Loki too had not expected him to be there.

.oOo.

Loki had ended up falling asleep on the couch and even though it was practically Tony's bed he had decided not to wake him. The god probably hadn't rested for three days while Tony for his part had slept through a good part of the previous day so it was not like he couldn't wait the whole night for Loki to wake up. Besides, the god looked quite peaceful while sleeping, something he never really managed otherwise.

So after making dinner Tony settled in the armchair to watch some TV. It was around ten p.m. that he remembered all the missed calls. He was not in a mood to get yelled at but he had promised to call and he would only make it worse by putting it off, while using JARVIS as a messenger felt like chickening out. So he got up to retrieve his phone and then he remembered where exactly he had left it. The couch, right.

He sighed as he looked over to Loki, the phone was partly stuffed between the cushions just beside his shoulder. Well... Loki seemed to be pretty fast asleep so he shouldn't have woken up if Tony just reached over him to get the phone.

Besides even if he did Tony could put up with a bit of a sour face form him.

He reached over Loki and snatched the phone and though the god stirred he didn't wake.

.oOo.

"Pepper, Pepper! Stop freaking out!"

" _I'm not freaking out!"_

No, she totally was.

"Listen," he said patiently, "you have to be reasonable. I know what I'm doing, I have this under control."

" _I am the one who's not reasonable?!"_ she asked incredulously. _"You practically ran off with a man who tried to take over this planet, have you lost your mind?!_ she nearly screamed and made Tony cringe.

It had been a long time since he had heard Pepper this angry, though to be fair they hadn't talked that much since their 'break' had started.

"I'm as sane as ever," he insisted as calmly as he could.

" _No, she's right, Stark, you are crazy."_

"You've called Fury in on this?!" It was Tony's turn to sound incredulous. "He is the last on the list of people I wanted to call!"

" _What did you think I would do when you call me from god knows where where you are hiding with an alien criminal?"_

"I don't know but I think I will start sending messages."

" _Shut up, both of you,"_ Fury ordered. _"Stark, I want you to come to New York immediately to report to me, do you understand?"_

"I understand that I don't take orders from you," Tony snapped, annoyed.

" _I don't know what you are playing at but this is_ not _a game."_

"I fucking know that! And I'm really not in the mood for this so just get in your head that you are not going to convince me."

There was a moment of silence before Fury replied.

" _You are a pain in the ass, Stark. And without answers I have to take you as compromised so could you at least tell me what are you doing there?"_

"No. Pepper?"

" _Yes?"_ She still sounded angry but the lack of shouting was probably everything he could ask for.

"I will call you in a few days so you'll know I'm ok. I know you're worried and I know I said this before but just don't be." Tony hoped he sounded calming.

" _Ok,"_ Pepper said after a moment. _"Don't get killed."_

"I won't," he assured her. "Fury, I'm not going to call you since I'm 'compromised'. Bye."

He hanged up before Fury could answer and sighed. That were two done and five to go.

.oOo.

In the end he had talked only to Rhodey and Bruce and Steve since he had been with Bruce at the time. Tony didn't really see the point in calling Natasha. And Clint, well, that was just bad idea.

He had gotten varying degrees of disapproval from all of them but he had not expected anything else. He could admit himself that what he was doing was reckless at best and to all those who weren't him it must have seemed much worse.

He snatched a blanket from the bed before he left Loki's bedroom, where he had gone to as not to disturb the sleeping god.

Back in the living room Loki was still fast asleep. Well, at least Tony hadn't brought the blanket for nothing. He bent over Loki to cover him but the next second he had to catch himself on the backrest of the couch when the god's hand shot out to grab his.

"Stark?" Loki looked up at him with wide eyes, startled. "What... are you doing?"

He looked so... human like this. And younger. Expression open, no masks or walls, confused and still half asleep. His hair fell freely around his face and Tony found himself wanting to push the strands back.

"I thought you might be cold," Tony explained quietly.

Loki looked down at the blanket as if he couldn't quite understand its presence. He was still holding on Tony's wrist.

"You-" Loki blinked away the remnants of sleep. "Why?"

Why indeed. It seemed like such a simple question and still the meaning behind it was so complicated. Also, it was sad that Loki should have asked something like that in a tone that said he really didn't understand at all.

"I just said why," Tony tried to dismiss the question.

"Why would you care?" Loki still sounded so confused, as if the concept was too alien for him to grasp.

And Tony realised he didn't have an answer for that.

"Maybe... there doesn't have to be a reason." Tony wasn't sure when exactly had he sat down on the couch. "I care about you, that's it."

He knew it was true the moment the words left his mouth. He cared about this man, this god who was searching his face for some sort of explanation that wasn't there. Not only that, he wanted him close, wanted Loki beside him and maybe that was the real reason why he wanted to help him, not because it was right. And if that wasn't surprising, Tony Stark had once again selfish motives. But he didn't care.

Tony moved his hand from the back of the couch to the armrest beside Loki's head.

"Why did you come back?" Loki asked, a frustrated edge to his voice.

Tony didn't answer. Instead he leaned down and they were so very close now, he could feel Loki's breath on his face. He hesitated, stayed still for a moment but Loki didn't push him away, he only tightened his grip on Tony's wrist. So Tony kissed him.

It started off slow, tentative but the moment Loki kissed him back Tony threw all his restraint to the wind.

Loki's breath hitched as the kiss became harder, insistent and Tony could feel him push back with the same amount of need, sending a sharp spark of passion through his whole body. God, he wanted him. The warm press of Loki's mouth on his was dizzying and he wanted to get lost in it, to drag this out and never stop.

When they parted they were both panting for breath.

"I don't understand you," Loki whispered into the space between them before kissing him again.

. .oOo.

The blanket had been long forgotten somewhere on the floor when Stark climbed on top of him, the warm, solid weight of the man reminding Loki how long it had been since he had indulged himself in this way. For so long he would not have let anyone this close, ever since he had been betrayed, since he went through hell where the closeness of another had not been something to relish. And all that time he had not longed for this.

Now though, with Stark, he found himself craving it and the touch did not bring forth any wariness of a knife that might have stabbed him in the back. Perhaps Loki was a fool to place any trust in Stark but the man had come back to him, after everything that had happened the man had come to care for him and that should have meant something.

A light bite to his earlobe reminded him that this was truly not the moment to overthink this. No, no, he would think later when he did not have Stark's mouth, warm and perfect, doing absolutely wicked things to his throat.

Loki sucked in a breath at the first hint of teeth and yanked Stark up by the hair for another hungry kiss. He trailed his hands down Stark's body to grip at his hips tightly under his shirt to press them tightly against each other. He gasped as Stark started moving against him, making it evident how they were affected by this.

They both moaned at a particularly forceful roll of hips and Loki took Stark by surprise when he surged up and tipped the man over so he ended up on his back.

"So you're going to be bossy in bed as well." Stark chuckled breathlessly.

Loki smirked down at him. "Perhaps," he muttered before he leaned down to capture Stark's lips once more.

Stark was obviously quite experienced kisser, sure in his every move and not at all shy about what he desired, his hands mapped Loki's body with the same confidence as his lips and tongue. He also likely did not mind the change of position since he used it to wrap his legs tightly around Loki to press them together again.

Loki broke the kiss for just long enough to pull Stark's shirt off and toss it to the floor. His hands explored the newly revealed expanse of skin hungrily, his attention was caught briefly by the glowing device in Stark's chest but he stifled his curiosity in favour of sucking Stark's lip into his mouth before peppering tiny bites and kisses down the man's neck.

"Oh god," Stark gasped when Loki locked his lips over his nipple and then groaned when Loki's tongue pressed against it.

But it was not enough, Loki needed more, to touch more, to feel more, to see Stark come apart and do so with him.

There was no finesse in the way that Loki hurriedly undid Stark's fly and shoved his hand down the man's pants. Stark moaned, long and deep, as Loki took hold of his hard cock and strong fingers dug into Loki's shoulders when he started to stroke as best as he could without taking the pants off.

"Loki..." Stark panted and wound his hands into Loki's hair to pull him up for another searing kiss.

Stark pulled away from his mouth and gripped Loki's shirt tightly.

"This really needs to come off," he groaned and Loki could do nothing but agree.

So he sat back on his haunches and pulled the shirt over his head even if it hurt his stitched arm. As if the rest of this did not, as if he cared for a little pain at the moment. When he threw the article to the side Stark had already disposed of the rest of his clothing and was sitting up to reach for Loki's pants. He did not get them all the way off, just down his thighs so Loki did not actually have to stand up, before he practically climbed onto his lap, straddling his legs and pressing them flush together.

Loki gasped breathlessly at the contact and his arms wound around Stark to keep him in place, pull him as close as possible with the man mouthing at his collarbone in a way that was bound to leave a mark. He dragged his hands down Stark's back to his ass where he gripped tight and moved Stark up against him and _oh, gods_ that was what he had been aiming for.

They both moaned, the sensation of their hard lengths trapped in between their bellies drawing a full-bodied shudder out of them. Stark took over the movement completely, rolling his hips in a steady rhythm that left them both panting for breath, and Loki let him do as he pleased, it was not like he could do much with most of the other's weight on his thighs.

Stark gripped at Loki's hair, yanked his head back and without any preamble stuck his tongue in Loki's mouth quite forcefully, it was as if he wanted to crawl down his throat. And Loki did not think about complaining, he returned everything with as much fervour as he was given.

He was loath to put space between them but too inpatient to drag this out, the sensual slide of their bodies not quite enough to soothe the desperate surge of want he felt stronger for every point of contact their skin made. He broke the kiss to lick his palm, deliberately slow, and he revelled in the groan the action provoked from Stark.

"Jesus, fucking, Christ... do you have any idea how you look?" the man muttered.

Loki gave a smirk that was an answer all in itself. He sneaked the slick hand in between their bodies and took hold of their cocks, Stark's hand joined his almost immediately and soon they established a rhythm, fast and hard, the firm squeeze of their fingers made them both moan and gasp into each other's mouths.

Their kisses became messier, more a clash of tongues and tug of teeth than a meeting of lips, and the sounds came louder, unbidden, half of them swallowed by their mouths, and Stark was speaking, an incoherent collection of swearwords and _oh god, oh god, god_ and above it all _Loki, Loki, Loki, Loki_ his name whispered like a prayer against Loki's lips, the side of his face, the shell of his ear.

Loki liked it, no, he loved it. Stark's voice was like a music to him, like a call, working to bring him closer to his peak he could feel rapidly approaching. But it was Stark to come first, with a cry muffled on Loki's skin, the warm seed spilling between their stomachs making the slide of their hands easy and wet. Loki followed only moments later, moaning next to Stark's ear, his eyes shut tightly as his whole body shuddered and he clung to the man with all the strength he could muster.

They stayed like that, wrapped up in each other, until the last tremors subsided. Loki was left feeling boneless in the most comfortable way and he lay back down on the couch, freeing his legs, which were starting to ache, from under them and carefully lowering them into the position they had begun in. He could not bring himself to care about the mess between their bodies, not now at least.

Loki felt relaxed and drowsy as they laid there but he knew that despite the prospect of falling asleep like this on the couch looking quite appealing at the moment it was not really a good idea.

"That was... unexpected," Loki said after a long moment of silence.

He felt more than heard Stark laugh.

"Learn to expect the unexpected around me, I'm full of surprises."

Yes, he was. This one mortal man had managed to surprise him on several occasions in their short time spent together and Loki was intrigued. Stark was unusual, he was a mystery, a puzzle. One that Loki wanted to solve.

. .oOo.

The next day Tony woke up well rested, sun was shining bright through the windows and there were sounds coming from the kitchen so he had probably slept a bit later then normally. During their road trip Loki had been an early bird but ever since they had settled here in the house he had started to sleep in a bit so the inhumane early rising had probably been out of necessity more than out of preference. Since then he had also been considerably less grumpy in the morning which Tony appreciated more than a little.

Tony would have been very content to just lie there for a while had it not been for the little _thing_ nagging at his mind. The thing being he had either had a very vivid dream of screwing the God of Mischief last night or he had indeed screwed the God of Mischief last night. And he was pretty sure it was not the former.

He listened to Loki puttering around in the kitchen while he tried to make sense of what had happened. It had not been just sex, not for Tony, Loki was a hot piece of ass and if Tony had wanted just to fuck he would have jumped him long ago. As for Loki, well, he was someone to simply reach out and take what he wanted and not hold back for whatever reason so, yeah, it was probably the same for Loki.

But that was the problem here, wasn't it? There was _something_ between them but that could never last, Tony wasn't even sure yet if he would have wanted it to. They were trying to get Loki's powers back and when they were done Loki would leave which was all good and well for the general public but not so much for the two of them and their possible... whatever.

Not for the first time since his kidnaping (the one when Loki had kidnapped him, sad that he had to specify that) he desperately wished for a drink, this was not something he wanted to deal with sober.

Well, he guessed it was no use to mull over it alone, Loki was likely stewing in it too but they could totally stew together.

"Are you going to get up today?" Loki asked when he came into the living room few minutes later with a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereals.

"That depends." Tony grinned. "Would you bring me breakfast to bed?"

"Do not push your luck, Stark," Loki warned but there was a spark humour in his eyes.

He kicked Tony's legs off the couch so he could sit down. Tony just went along with it, it was not like he wanted to sleep anymore.

"So..." Tony begun. It was harder than he thought to breach the subject.

"So," Loki responded in kind not even looking at him.

Yeah, that asshole was not going to make it easier.

"Should we talk about this?" Tony asked finally.

The god sighed and looked over at him with a strange expression.

"What if we simply do not?"

"What?" Tony frowned in confusion.

"Do not talk about _this_ ," Loki clarified calmly. "Or do you want to? Because I do not insist on putting a name to this right now."

Did Tony want to? No, the answer was simple – no. What he wanted was to enjoy this while it lasted without worrying too much about future but that was not the right thing to do. Or was it? As he studied Loki's calm face he wasn't so sure anymore. Should they waste their time overthinking this instead of just letting it work out by itself when there wasn't really that much time to waste? Tony had no idea where he wanted this to go anyway and he doubted Loki had either.

"We just do what we want to do and we will see," the god said as if that was the simplest thing in the world.

"Well, I certainly want to do you again," Tony remarked.

Loki laughed and it felt nice to make him laugh, he wasn't doing it enough.

"The sentiment is mutual," he said with a smile still on his face.

And maybe it really was that simple. They wanted each other at the moment so they would act on it. It was much better than pretending nothing happened between them and spending the rest of Loki's 'stay' being awkward around the other.

. .oOo.

Loki would have lied if he had said he was not more than a bit apprehensive about what they were about to do. But he was not about to admit that in front of Stark, it would not do them any good since the man was already pacing the room like a caged beast. Loki could tell Stark was just a little piece of doubt away from trying to stop him. Not that Loki would have stopped, even though Stark's worries were not at all unfounded.

Over the course of the past week Star had become more open regarding his concerns and general feelings towards him and though at the moment it was rather annoying Loki overall liked it. Stark cared and did not dither about showing it. It was... pleasant.

What he was about to do not so much.

"What are the chances it will deep-fry you?" Stark asked, doing a poor job of hiding his trepidation.

"Bearable," Loki stated curtly.

They were, though that did not mean they were small.

Everything was prepared to contact Væjðr, his vanir acquaintance. There was a tall mirror in metal frame propped up against the wall and covered almost entirely in runes, so much that its surface seemed nearly black, and in left hand Loki held the energy source Stark had brought him. It was a device similar to the one in Stark's chest, an arc reactor Stark had informed him but had not elaborated on the topic, it seemed to be a sensitive one for him.

"Let us begin," Loki said evenly and took hold of the metal frame with his free hand. "You do remember what to do?"

Stark rolled his eyes even through his obvious discomfort.

"I'm not dumb. You hold the frame, I finish the last rune, then step back. There, done."

"And you do not touch me," Loki reminded him because he could see Stark forgetting that particular detail.

"Yeah. Let's get this over with," Stark said as he crouched down, one hand with brush poised over the mirror's surface ready to draw the last rune.

Loki took a deep breath before giving a nod. He watched the brush as if its motions slowed down, the last stroke seemed to take forever, and at first there was nothing happening.

That was until he was enveloped in raw power. His lips parted in a silent scream and it _hurt_ , all muscles in his body locked in a cramp and he could not move, could not breathe but he still saw the mirror turn black, saw the blue energy flow over his arm, through him, he heard Stark call his name and for a split second he thought that maybe he had been wrong and this spell had never been meant for humans.

But fortunately it lasted only a moment. It still left his gasping for breath and struggling for composure though.

"I... am fine," he managed to get out before Stark could even voice the question.

It made the man shut his mouth just in time since the mirror was already beginning to clear.

More and more of the black hue seeped away and what was left was a picture of dimly lit room, a study, which would have been obvious even if Loki had not known the room as well as he did. The bottom third of the view was occupied by a grand desk, its surface strewn with various items from scrolls to crystals, and behind the desk there sat Væjðr.

"Loki," the vanir breathed out in disbelief, confusion clear on his face before reigned down his obvious surprise and correct himself. "My prince."

Loki let a rueful smile slip for a second. "Væjðr," he said in greeting. "My status is more than a little uncertain at the moment, is it not? And besides, I have always had little need for etiquette around you."

The vanir seemed to relax slightly at the meagre display of familiarity from Loki's side. Even though they had known one another for most of Loki's life and Væjðr was nearly twice Loki's age Loki was still a prince, or had been. And they had never been true friends.

"Of course." Væjðr shook his head. "I will admit this comes as a surprise. If I am not mistaken you are mortal now and contacting me from Midgard."

"You are not, but there are ways I can use even with my powers sealed."

"I am aware," Væjðr said. "I did not think those ways could be found on Midgard."

"I am often underestimated," Loki retorted with a smirk.

Væjðr knew a lot about that. They were all underestimated, mages.

The vanir chuckled in return. "I see you have found a friend as well," he changed the topic.

"You could say that," Loki said with a glance to Stark.

"Tony Stark," the man introduced himself with a grin. "And actually he kidnapped me."

"I sense a story here," Væjðr said, his eyebrows rising.

"Not an important one. And not one I am inclined to tell."

Væjðr laughed again. "I expected as much. Keep your secrets but you have called me for a reason, as I am sure."

"Yes," Loki replied. "I need a favour, I ask for your help."

The vanir frowned. "With all due respect, you are not exactly in a position to ask for anything."

Loki gritted his teeth. He had known Væjðr would not be happy to help him but still he had hoped he would not dare to outright refuse it. It was another reminder how powerless Loki was at the moment.

"If I recall correctly," Loki growled, glaring daggers, "you owe me a great favour. Or did you forget whom your life belongs to?"

It was Væjðr turn to grind his teeth together in anger.

"I did not," he hissed.

He better not. Loki had never regretted taking the risk to save Væjðr's life, however, it was not for any sense of affection but for the fact that having a mage such as Væjðr on his side could prove useful.

"Good. But if you do what I ask we will be even."

The vanir stayed silent for a long while, obviously contemplating Loki's offer, but Loki knew he had already won. Væjðr would jump at the chance to get out of his debt.

"Speak then."

Loki smirked.

"I was made mortal and my powers were locked away." Loki pulled up his sleeve to show the crimson runes on his forearm. "I trust you know how to fix it."

Væjðr studied Loki with a frown though there was more to his gaze. Sadness? Regret? But why would he...

"I know the spell that was used to bind your magic, as do you. And yes, I am able to lift it, I will if that is what you ask," Væjðr spoke carefully and though he fell silent after that Loki knew he was not finished.

"However?" Loki prompted him.

"However," Væjðr sighed, "Odin is the king of Asgard and what he had done is in his power as the ruler of Realm Eternal and protector of Nine Realms. I know of no way to counteract what he did."

It was as if a dagger colder than ice had sliced through his gut, freezing his blood and tearing his flesh. This could not be true, there must have been a way! He would not accept this!

"What are you saying?" he hissed.

"Loki I..." there was the regret again, Loki would have appreciated if he had stopped pretending, "I cannot make you immortal again."

Loki was aware of Stark's gaze on him but fortunately this time the man had the good sense not to speak.

This was not possible! Odin was not all-mighty, his decision could not be absolute...

"I want my magic back," Loki said after a stretch of silence.

His voice did not waver despite his inner turmoil, his well-worn mask firmly in place.

Væjðr nodded. "I will need time to gather everything I need."

"How long?" Loki asked.

"Expect me in twenty days," Væjðr said. "I will find you myself."

"I will be waiting."

.oOo.

A heavy silence fell over the room after Loki had smashed the mirror to break the connection. Loki hoped, he knew in vain, that Stark would just leave.

"Loki," Stark begun but Loki would have none of it.

"Just leave it, Stark," he ordered evenly, keeping his face expressionless.

"Eh, what about no," the man persisted. "Look, I'm sorry but-"

"Shut up Stark!"

His mask was cracking, breaking to lie shattered on the floor amongst the shards of the mirror. How could this stupid mortal make him lose his composure so quickly? He was infuriating and did not know when to keep his mouth shut after all.

"Don't you want to talk about this?" Stark asked.

"There is nothing to talk about," Loki hissed.

"Really? Because I think you just found out some breaking news and you seem pretty shaken."

Loki gritted his teeth to keep himself from shouting. Yes, he was shaken, he was furious and Stark was just fuelling it.

And he was not giving up yet.

"Look, I know I can't really understand this because I was born mortal-"

"Leave me alone, Stark," Loki growled.

He did not want to talk about it, did not even want to think about it and he most certainly did not want Stark to pity him.

"Loki..."

"Leave!" Loki shouted, finally snapping under the pressure.

Stark looked taken aback by the outburst, Loki could relate since he had surprised himself as well.

"All right," the man said after a moment and then walked out of the room.

Loki heard the front door open and close and after that there was only silence.

He told himself he did not care where Stark went.

.oOo.

That night Loki lay awake for long hours as sleep evaded him in favour of thoughts and questions plaguing his mind.

How long would he live as a human? He guessed he was maybe twenty-seven now so how long did he have left? Fifty years if he was lucky? He could not help a wry smile at the thought that The Other may come here and find him already dead.

Oh yes, he should have looked at the positive side of things.

It was a shame that the Allfather would not mourn his dead and blame himself for it. Just the thought of Odin sparked a flare of hatred in Loki. How could Odin still claim to be his father? He had put up a show of giving Loki a chance but he had been fully aware he had been sending him to death, there had never been a possibility on redemption for Loki.

The Allfather had discarded him like a broken tool.

But it would have not been Loki if he had not at least attempted to prove him wrong. Væjðr had said he did not know a way to return Loki's immortality, however, that did not mean there _was not_ a way. Loki would not give up this easily, once he got his magic back he could start looking on his own.

He _would_ get back what was taken from him.

With that decision made there was still one thing to be sorted out.

He got up and made his way to the living room. He stopped in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe, to look at Stark's unmoving form.

The man had come back once again and Loki could not help the surprise he felt at that, not from any rational reason, even though his words could have been interpreted a certain way, but because he still could not quite believe Stark was here, had decided to stay and help him.

"Are you just going to stand there? Because no matter what all that romantic crap for teenage girls says, it's creepy."

Loki did not startle, he had known Stark was awake since his breathing was too quick for someone asleep. Still, he did not answer.

"Seriously," Stark turned onto his stomach and propped his head up on the armrest to look at him, "you are creeping me out."

Loki sighed and shook his head. Logically, Stark should have been afraid of him for different reasons.

"Come to bed with me," he said and hoped the man would recognise it for the apology it was.

Even in the dark he Stark smiling and he had a feeling that the man understood.

"I thought you'd never ask."

.oOo.

Lazy days were simply something that Loki did not do, not often anyway. So Loki had taken the liberty to place all kinds of wards around the house to prevent any magical visits from the Wiccans but on the evening of the fourth day since they had contacted Væjðr he had simply had nothing more to do.

So there he was, at eleven a.m. on the fifth day, in bed with Stark, trading soft touches and light kisses.

Five days and Loki still wondered if inviting Stark in his bed had been a good idea. If he had been absolutely honest he would have had to admit it had not. They were lovers, there was no use denying the word, and sharing a bed only made more obvious the fact that they were getting closer still. And though Loki was incredibly stupid to take a lover while on Midgard, he had no mind to change the state of affairs at the moment.

Since he really had nothing to do he agreed when Stark expressed his wish to educate Loki in the field of human culture. One would have expected a lecture in history when promised a lesson in culture but Loki knew better when it came to Stark and in the end they were doing exactly what Loki had thought they would have been doing. They sat on the couch, watching a collection of movies and eating popcorn.

The final credits of the sixth Star Wars movie found Loki lying half on top of Stark with his head resting on the man's chest. His attention was once again caught by the arc reactor and he guessed he had waited long enough.

"Why do you have this?" he asked, tapping the device lightly.

Stark noticeably tensed.

"Why do you ask?"

Loki shrugged. "Curiosity."

"Should have guessed so," Stark chuckled but then fell quiet.

The silence stretched on and Loki thought that maybe Stark would not answer but then the man started speaking.

"I was kidnapped a few years ago, you probably know that."

Loki nodded. "A group of terrorists wanted you to build weapons for them, you built your first suit and escaped."

Barton had told him as much.

"During the assault I was injured," Stark continued and it was clear this was not easy to talk about for him. "Badly. There are still pieces of metal in me. One man... he saved me, put a magnet in my chest to keep the shrapnel out of my heart.

"I built the first prototype of this back then, to power the magnet. Later I found out it was poisoning me and I built a new one, using a completely new and on earth unknown element which I had to make. Oh, and it also powers the suit"

"So without it you will die?" Loki asked.

"Yes, not right away but... yeah," Stark said with a sigh.

Loki nodded. He did not know what he had been expecting but... not this.

"There is more to this, is there not?" he asked after a moment.

"How do you know?"

Loki smiled. He was right, Stark had not denied it.

"The way you talk about it," Loki explained. "You try to sound detached but that alone tells me it was either truly horrible experience or it was personal. Or both."

Stark laughed but it was not a happy sound.

"Did I ever tell you I love your brain?" the man asked.

"No, but I hear it all the time."

Loki grinned as this time Stark laughed a bit more genuinely.

"The assault..." Stark began, serious once more. "Well, as it turned out later my good friend and the closest thing I had to a father figure in my adult life had planned the whole thing. Only he wanted to kill me. And he had been selling my weapons to terrorists, the metal in my chest is from my own missile, I designed it, it was made in my factories. So yes, it's very personal."

Betrayal was it, Loki knew that one intimately.

He raised himself on his hands and shifted to look down on Stark. The man was obviously still caught in the memories, a haunted look on his face, so Loki decided it was time to remind him of where and when he was.

"Stark," he spoke softly, catching the man's attention.

Then he leaned down and kissed him. It was nor deep nor passionate but that was not what Loki was aiming for, it was a reassurance, a reminder.

"Let us watch another movie," Loki said once their lips parted. "I daresay I am still horribly uneducated."

. .oOo.

Pouring out his heart was not what Tony had been expecting when he had proposed a movie day. On the other hand, he _had_ expected Loki to ask about the arc reactor sooner or later, still, this had been very much sooner. I was a testament to how much had their relationship changed lately that Tony had told him as much as he had. And though it would have been nice to know more about Loki it was kind of relief that the god had not reciprocated by revealing his own demons, Tony was not at all sure if he was ready for an emotional baggage of that size and he knew for a fact that Loki's baggage must have been fucking huge. But Tony also knew that in a very near future his curiosity will get the better out of him and he will ask Loki about what had happened back in Asgard since that was obviously the root of his problems. And if Loki didn't want to talk about it he wouldn't push, that wouldn't have been good for their... relationship.

Yeah, they were in a relationship. Tony would have laughed at how ridiculous it sounded, even just in his head, had he not been in public getting their dinner.

As he got back to the car he wondered what the reactions of the rest of the team would have been if they had ever found out. Natasha, she would have probably remained one hundred per cent unaffected, report it to SHIELD and then act like a good spy and watch out for possible threat. Bruce and Steve would have been shocked into silence and then later Steve would have been a good friend and tried to talk him out of it while Bruce would have been a good friend and informed him he didn't really want to have anything to do with it. Thor was a big blond unknown since Tony had no idea what was his mindset when it came to his little brother and lovers but there was a good possibility that he would have been cool with it. And then there was Clint whose reaction would have been an arrow to Tony's eye.

Sweet.

.oOo.

Tony spent the evening reading one of Loki's books while Loki watched some crappy tv show which he seemed quite fascinated with. Seriously, that man (god) still had a long way to go when he was willingly watching this, he wouldn't have known quality if it had punched him in the face, but Tony could have expected nothing more after showing him only Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings.

The book Tony had borrowed was something that could be called 'Magic for Dummies' and luckily it had been written in English in the last century and something so he actually understood it without problems. It described the most basic facts about magic in a very roundabout and lengthy way and Tony had a feeling that whoever had written it had at points had only vague idea what they had been talking about. But still it was interesting reading material, so interesting in fact that Tony lost a few hours going through it.

He hadn't even noticed the TV turning off, nor had he noticed Loki shifting beside him. At least not until he felt a ghost of breath on his neck and a hand sneaking under his shirt. So Loki had probably gotten tired of his show and decided it was time Tony paid attention to him, seriously, he sometimes reminded Tony of a cat.

"I am reading, Loki," he said and was proud at how uninterested that came out.

They both knew he wasn't going to turn Loki down but that didn't mean he would not tease a bit first.

"I am not stopping you," Loki played along and Tony could feel curving of his lips on his neck. "Keep reading, do not let yourself be distracted."

Then Loki's teeth grazed his pulse in a very distracting way and the next moment he pulled Tony's earlobe into his mouth and sucked. Tony stifled the hitch in his breath and kept his eyes stubbornly glued to the page, he was not about to give up this easily, he had started this game so no matter how good Loki's mouth felt he was damn well going to play it for more than thirty seconds.

Loki moved his hand up over his chest to twist a nipple while his mouth continued its ministrations to Tony's throat and fuck, when had it gotten so hot in there? But Tony just pressed his lips together and turned to another page in the book even though he had not read a word from the previous one. What came next though made Tony bite down on his lip in earnest since Loki obviously decided to stop fucking around and used his free hand to massage the slowly forming bulge in Tony's pants. But he kept quiet. He kept still and stared at the book and pretended he didn't want to slam Loki down onto the couch and fuck him senseless.

Then as abruptly as it had started it ended when Loki suddenly pulled away. Tony was left momentarily confused, there was no reason for Loki to give up like this since it was quite obvious he was successfully working up to the game's single possible outcome. But all his doubts cleared once he heard the first sound from Loki. _Son of a bitch..._

Tony decidedly did _not_ look to the other end of the couch when the next moan reached his ears. No, he kept staring at the book and holding it in a white-knuckled grip. And the sounds kept coming, a string of groans and moans and breathy little whimpers and Tony knew Loki was playing it up but god dammit it was hot. Fuck this.

He slammed the book shut and threw it away, not caring where it landed. When he finally laid his eyes on Loki he couldn't help but groan out loud at the downright sinful display in front of him, he wouldn't have been surprised if he had spontaneously combusted on the spot because _fuck_ , just _fuck_.

Loki was half sitting, propped up against the armrest, legs spread and one of them rested on the couch, bent at the knee, while the other had slipped of off it to plant the foot on the floor. His clothes were a mess, shirt unbuttoned and showing the lean, muscled torso and pants pulled down his hips just enough to be out of the way of the hand that was gripping his cock tightly and stroking it with deliberately slow moves. Loki's other hand rested at his mouth in a loose fist, clearly meant to appear like an attempt at silencing himself but all the noises were coming out loud and clear and the way Loki's long fingers skimmed his parted lips only served to make the image more erotic. He looked like a fucking porn star. And the mischievous spark in the god's half-lidded eyes told Tony he knew exactly what picture he made.

Tony closed the distance between them and slid his hands up Loki's thighs.

"That was a dirty move," he said and bent down to bite on Loki's throat, getting a very satisfactory hitch in breath in response.

"I... have a dirty mind," Loki replied.

And Tony could tell he was smirking so he leaned up and kissed him, deep and passionate, to wipe the smirk off. He felt a hand in his hair, clenching and keeping him in place but he still pulled away to Loki's evident displeasure.

"We should move to bed. Like right now," Tony stated because he knew that if they didn't change location now they wouldn't do it at all and while getting a hand job or a blow job on a couch would have been awesome he had something different in mind for today.

Luckily Loki didn't argue, he sat up, forcing Tony to go along, and pulled up his pants.

Considering the size of the house it took them terribly long to get to the bedroom since they stopped every few steps in favour of slamming each other into walls and letting lips and hands wander. When they finally got through the door Tony had already lost his shirt and before they fell to the bed he managed to shuck off his pants as well.

He ended up on his back with Loki straddling his hips. The god looked down at him with hungry gaze and his hands splayed over Tony's chest to move down his body as if Loki was committing it to memory. Then he pulled away to strip off his shirt. And though the display was pretty much perfect Tony was not going to just lie there and stare, he slid his hands up and over Loki's hips, then to the front where he massaged Loki's erection through his pants.

"Stark..." Loki moaned at the friction.

"You know," Tony said as he slipped a hand into Loki's underwear to stroke him properly, drawing out another moan, "you should really start calling me Tony, I think our relationship's at that point."

And it had been there for a long time already.

"I will consider it," the god replied in a remarkably steady tone.

Tony chuckled and took hold of Loki's hips again before he rolled them over so he could get rid of their remaining clothes.

Finally there was nothing between them, just skin on skin, hands travelling unrestrained and sure in their paths, grabbing, kneading, stroking, from feather-like caresses to firm gripping of fingers and their lips hardly ever left each other, not breaking their kisses until they were both out of breath.

Tony reached for the bedside table and fumbled a bit while opening a drawer since his attention was pretty much devoted to more interesting matters. Finally he got what he had been looking for and dropped the bottle of lube on the bed in favour of running his hand up Loki's leg.

"I got us something. When I was out earlier," he muttered in between kisses.

They hadn't been exactly chaste the past twelve days since they had gotten together, not at all, but they still hadn't done this and though Tony very much wanted to fuck Loki into mattress he had no clue what the policy towards two men having sex was in Asgard. With the kind of macho vibe Tony sometimes got from Thor when the god talked about his home he couldn't be blamed for not wanting to screw this up by assuming something.

Loki glanced at the bottle and though he probably hadn't seen one before it seemed he figured out its purpose since his lips curved in a faint smirk.

"I thought it was time we move our sex life up a notch, just want to make sure you are ok with that."

Loki frowned in confusion for a brief moment before understanding dawned on him.

"Stark," he grinned and his voice was full of amusement, "are you trying to ask if you can mount me?"

Well, that was a way to put his cards on the table.

"I wouldn't use the same words," Tony replied. "But yeah."

And the look Loki was giving him was making him feel a bit like an idiot.

"I mean," he continued, "I don't know how you look at this up in magical god-land so I thought-"

Loki pressed a finger to his lips to silence his rant.

"I do not wish to discuss asgardian view of homosexuality right now since there are more pressing matters for us to take care of," the god said and rolled his hips up to drive his point across and it worked splendidly.

Loki leaned up to kiss him deeply.

"Fuck me, Stark," he whispered breathlessly, their lips still touching, and yeah, that was good enough for Tony.

Not to mention insanely hot from someone who sounded like an outdated textbook at times.

He grabbed the lube and coated his fingers in it hastily. Loki watched him, eyes dark with lust, legs spread wide in a clear invitation and Tony couldn't believe how much he wanted him. He tried to be careful as he slipped the first finger in but the god didn't even tense.

At the second finger Loki's breath hitched minutely and he let his head fall back against the sheets, his black hair, damp with sweat and curling at the ends, spilled around his face, surrounding him like a dark halo. Tony took his time preparing Loki, watched him loose himself as he was slowly stretched open, watched his chest rise and fall rapidly as his breathing escalated, gasps and moans falling freely from his parted lips. He might as well go insane just from the sight alone. At a curl of Tony's fingers Loki bit down on his lip and his hands clenched tightly in the sheets.

"Again," he groaned and Tony had no problems complying.

Loki was now pushing back against his hand, silently asking for more so Tony pulled the two fingers out and returned with three. There was suddenly a hand on the back of his neck, warm and demanding, pulling him down and Tony went along until his face was just an inch from Loki's, the harsh puffs of the god's breaths washing over his lips and the green eyes, pupils blown wide with lust, darting between Tony's own and his mouth. Then they were kissing, their lips met in almost forceful way and Tony plunged his tongue into Loki's mouth in a desperate need to get more, to feel more, to get closer. He kept moving his fingers, spreading them and twisting, and Loki was eagerly meeting every thrust, making sounds that went mostly muffled by their joined lips but still served to drive Tony half mad with want.

"Enough," Loki gasped when they broke the kiss. "Take me."

Tony didn't hesitate, he pulled out his fingers to coat his dick in lube and he groaned as he gave himself a few strokes. Fuck, he was so hard it almost hurt. He hooked Loki's leg into the crook of his elbow, bending it towards the god's chest as he guided himself in and then slowly, oh so slowly slid into him. And god, Loki felt so good it took quite some effort not to just thrust in, hot and tight and perfect and damn, his _face_ , contorted in pleasure, mouth open though no sound came out beside the shaky intake of air. The pause Tony took when he was all the way in was definitely not only for Loki's benefit.

When he finally started to move he didn't go fast, long and deep thrusts that left them short on breath. He let go of Loki's leg, drawing himself up and taking hold of Loki's hips instead for a purchase so he could push in harder and the first more forceful thrust got a loud moan from the god.

"Come on, Stark..." Loki muttered impatiently between harsh breaths. "Stop holding back."

And dammit all to hell he had wanted to drag this out but he was not going to last long anyway so he tightened his grip on the god and finally just slammed in. And the sound that left Loki's mouth could be described only as a shout. Tony groaned as he drew back thrust in again and again, setting a rhythm that was hard and fast and from that point most coherent though had been lost to him in a whirlwind of sensation. Loki's thighs clamped tightly around him as the god arched off the bed, hands clenched and tangled in the sheets, eyes shut but lips parted and an unending string of inarticulate sounds and _yes_ and _gods_ and Tony's name falling from them without hesitation.

"Tony... call me Tony," the man gasped.

"Tony..." Loki moaned and opened his eyes to look at him.

Oh fuck, he had to speed this up because he could come right then. He angled his thrusts and knew he hit just the right spot when Loki's breath hitched and his eyes widened as if in surprise. Tony picked up the pace and let go of the god's hip with one hand to wrap his fingers tightly around his cock. The loud, drawn out moan from the god was almost enough to finish him. But no, Loki was close too, Tony could see it on his face, could hear it in the loud noised he made with every thrust of Tony's hips and tug of his hand, could feel him clenching around his cock and then Loki threw his head back and he was coming with a strangled cry on his lips. It took just seconds for Tony to follow as he finally let go, pushing into Loki few more times before going still. He fell forward but remembered to catch himself on his hands and not let his whole weight rest on Loki.

Tony stayed like that for a moment, just enjoying the way they fit together, feeling the minute tremors run through the body underneath his and pressing soft kisses to the crook of Loki's neck. When Tony rolled to the side to lie on his back the god followed and fitted himself snugly against him, resting his head on Tony's shoulder as he made a small sound of contentment. Tony half expected him to purr.

"I'd say this was a great idea," he spoke and started stroking the god's hair.

Loki chuckled. "Now you are going to say it was great because it was yours."

"Oh, no. That would mean _you_ weren't thinking about it and I know you were."

"Hmm, I will not deny that," Loki murmured, tilting his head up to kiss Tony's neck just above his collarbone.

"But I still get the points for initiative," the man said.

"Is this a contest?" Loki asked with a note of amusement.

And Tony should have probably stepped back now, a contest with Loki, well, he had a feeling he would come to regret this in some way even though he couldn't think of one at the moment.

"I don't know, do you want it to be?"

Loki pushed himself up so he could look down on him with a mischievous smile on his face, Tony found he rather liked that expression on the god.

"Right now I want to take the initiative," Loki drawled, "and bring you along to the shower."

Oh yeah, let Tony regret challenging Loki later, right now he was going to enjoy it.

.oOo.

The past two weeks seemed pretty surreal to Tony. It felt like a weird kind of vacation, a kind he had never had before. In the past, on the rare occasion that he had actually taken a vacation his mind had never gotten the memo, it never stopped working so even though he had had some time away from his job as a CEO he could never get any respite from his real work. Not that he would have actually wanted to, he was an inventor and he loved what he was doing. But this time he had something else than his inventions to occupy his mind, a whole new field of expertise – magic.

It was fascinating, Loki had accumulated an admirable collection of books and scrolls on Earth's magic from different parts of the world, various cultures and times, each portraying new ways of magic's use. Not that apart from the very few more recent ones written in English Tony could read any of them but Loki was always willing to summarize for him. And Loki was a true expert, he could probably teach him everything that was there to know about the 'non-earth' magic as well as most of earth magic without the use of any books.

Then there was Loki himself. Tony's past enemy turned friend and tentative ally turned... lover. There was no other word that fit since it seemed kind of strange to use the term 'boyfriend' when talking about Loki. His godly boyfriend from space, that was weird. And actually kind of cool, maybe he could get used to it. But there was a catch it that since Loki probably still planned on leaving as soon as he got his powers back, which was in four days. Well, Tony had to enjoy the ride while it lasted even though he didn't want it to end. He knew he didn't want Loki to leave but the question was what was he going to do about it.

It was still early morning and Loki lay asleep beside him, or rather half on top of him since the god could be rather cuddly on occasion, which Tony couldn't help but find rather funny. But it also posed a little problem because it was almost impossible to get up without waking Loki in the process.

Luckily he didn't have to lay there and get bored because at that moment Loki stirred.

"Good morning," Tony said with a smile.

Loki made a noncommittal sound in response and nuzzled Tony's neck, making him chuckle.

"Comfy, aren't you?"

The god just hummed again while he ran his hand down Tony's side, over his hip and to his thigh. Tony just smiled and stroked Loki's back in return.

"Don't even think about it," he said. "I'm still sore from yesterday."

Loki chuckled, propping himself up on his forearms to look down at Tony.

"I was not suggesting anything," Loki drawled. "Merely enjoying the closeness."

Loki dropped his head back to his chest and as Tony stroked the god's inky hair he couldn't fight down the thought that they wouldn't be enjoying it much longer.

After a moment Loki seemed to sense the shift in Tony's mood since he looked up at him with raised eyebrows.

"Is something the matter?" he asked.

And Tony was loath to ruin the moment but this really couldn't be put off any longer.

"Four days," he said simply and Loki's expression drooped, he had obviously been thinking about it too. "Does this change anything?"

Loki was silent for a long while but he didn't move away from Tony so that gave him some hope.

"It does for me," he answered finally.

Tony had a feeling that even though Loki wasn't lying, practically speaking it meant no.

"What if you just stayed?" he asked.

Loki shook his head. "Odin, once he finds out about the spell, will want to punish me and even if he did not there are still the chitauri. What if they come for me? Would your band of heroes fight to protect me? I doubt that."

Tony couldn't see Loki's face but his voice sounded flat, as if the words hadn't concerned him. Maybe he had prepared the speech in advance, just waiting for Tony to ask.

"Maybe I would," Tony said, making Loki look up at him in an unguarded moment of surprise. "Maybe I want you to stay."

There were too many emotions playing on Loki's face for Tony to make sense of. But it was enough he had made Loki listen to him.

"Do you _want_ to stay?" Tony asked because that was the real question here.

But Loki didn't answer. He got up and disappeared from the room and Tony just sighed and buried his face in his hands.

.oOo.

Loki had obviously chosen to pretend their morning conversation had not happened but Tony was willing to let it drop for now since the god was obviously thinking about it, he was sure, it did not happen often that Loki just sat around and stared into space. Tony would ask him again in the evening or tomorrow morning, at least that was the plan.

But the plan went to hell when they were eating lunch, in fact, everything went to hell.

The first bullet broke the window behind Loki and it was either because of sheer luck or poor skills of the shooter that it missed them. They dropped to the floor in synchronisation and took cover behind the kitchen counter.

"What the hell?!" Tony cursed as more bullets rained through the windows, spraying everything in little pieces of glass.

Loki was already pulling guns out of the cupboards beside him and never had Tony been so grateful for Loki's paranoia that had made him hide guns in literally every room in the house. Now he was frustrated that he had not hidden his suit in the kitchen. Why the hell had he thought it would have been good idea to leave it in the car?

"Mark!" a familiar voice shouted from the outside. "You thought you can hide from us?! That you can run?! We are done playing nice!"

Loki cursed beside him and grabbed a semiautomatic pistol in each hand before peering over the counter and shooting. Tony wondered briefly how had he gotten all this arsenal before snatching a M1911 and joining him.

"I don't want to be a pessimist or anything," Tony said as he took cover again to reload. "But this looks bad. And they are not even blasting any spells yet!"

"They won't be, I warded the house!" Loki shouted before he dropped back behind the counter. "They cannot even open the front door and the back door is hidden."

They emptied another set of magazines through the windows and this time Tony got time to count. Twenty-two and that was only those he could see. He got two of them, Loki got three. Seventeen but more were coming. How come no one noticed a shoot-out like this? Magic, fucking magic.

"I hope you have a plan because if you don't then I will have to come up with something and my plans are usually insane and dangerous and I have no fucking clue how can some of them actually play out in my favour," Tony rambled.

He was panicking just slightly because this looked bad, he was sure the two of them would run out of ammunition before the guys outside do.

"You should run."

Wait, what?

"What?!" Tony asked incredulously but Loki was already shooting again.

"Run, Stark," The god said once he was down again. "This is my mess. Get to the back door, take the car and get to safety."

"Hell no!" Tony shouted before he started shooting again.

He was not leaving Loki here.

"Stark!" Loki yanked him back down. "This is my fight, you won't get killed just because you think you have to protect me! I can take care of myself!"

In that moment Tony could see right through Loki's mask, all the urgency, the insistence, the frustration, the desperation. And then Loki turned and peered over the counter to shoot.

"Run!" Loki yelled without looking at him.

And Tony did.

. .oOo.

Stark would be safe.

Loki repeated that over and over in his head as he once again rose to shoot at the Wiccans to hold them off so Stark would have time to get away. He would soon run out of bullets but he had known from the moment he had first looked out the window the number of their attackers he would not defeat them like this.

He supposed it was sheer luck the he had not been hit so far. But he had never been particularly lucky.

Pain exploded in his right shoulder, blinding, white-hot agony as the bullet ripped through flesh and bone. He fell to the ground, flat on his back and gasping for breath, his hand immediately searching for the gun that had slipped from his grasp even though he knew it was useless at this point. He was dimly aware of the warm blood soaking through his shirt and into his hair as he lay there and his fingers finally closed around the grip of the gun.

Groaning he pushed himself up into a crouch to face the windows, gun raised even though it seemed to weight a hundred times more than it had before. With every ragged exhale he could taste blood on his tongue and it should have been worrying, it meant his lung had been pierced, it meant he was steadily bleeding out, that he was dying, but he just hoped he would get to spit his blood in Scott's face before he choked on it.

The next moment they were coming through the windows. He had three bullets left in the magazine, they all found their targets. His gun hit the ground even before there was a barrel pressed against his temple and they surrounded him as best as they could in the meagre area of the kitchen while others went to explore the house.

"Well, well, well," Scott drawled with a too satisfied smirk on his face. "I have to leave it to you, Mark, you put up quite the fight."

Loki's only response was a bloodied grin, Scott had no idea what fight he was able to put up. But the man was not disturbed, he was too drunk on his victory.

"And where is your dear friend? Tony Stark. We saw him here."

Loki chuckled but it came out as a rather disgusting gurgling sound.

"Long gone, I hope," he replied.

"Oh?" Scott raised his eyebrows. "I suppose you're about to tell me that if we kill you he will revenge you, don't bother. Because, well, we don't have to, you are already dying."

His vision was starting to swim and he had trouble staying upright. It was getting progressively harder to get enough air as he struggled with each breath. But still he laughed again.

"No. But... you won't... get him," Loki said between wet gasps.

Scott frowned. "You are telling me you stayed here so he could run? That doesn't sound like you."

"Maybe... it was worth it," Loki muttered and grinned up at the man, blinking to clear his sight but without results.

Scott just scoffed and pulled out his gun.

"Whatever," he said and pressed the barrel to Loki's forehead.

The god grinned wider.

"I'm here to kill you and I will," Scott continued. "Burn in hell, Mark."

Then he pulled the trigger.

.oOo.

It was like burning from the inside. But the fire did not hurt him, no, it took the pain away. It healed him, made him complete in ways he had never ceased to miss. And he had missed them for so long.

It was raw power, his power, coursing through his veins. It had been almost a year now since he had last felt it like this, as a part of him and not something just out of his reach, a haunting reminder of what had been. His magic was back and he welcomed it like an old friend, like a comforting blanket around his shoulders.

The moment before he opened his eyes lasted only a second and when he did he took a great satisfaction in the expressions of shock around him. But that satisfaction was nothing to the one he felt when they all recognised him for who he was and their faces filled with terror.

In a blink of the eye he was on his feet and they were shooting at him but he was not defenceless anymore and the bullets bounced off him uselessly, some even found their way back to the Wiccans but in their panic they kept up the fire. He moved a snake, his hand shot out and his fingers closed around Scott's throat.

"Wha-" the man tried to ask but Loki tightened his grip and lifted him in the air.

"I know you are confused," he said with a smirk. "And you have right to be, mortal, but you do not need the answers. What I will tell you is that you challenged a god. And you have killed me so I will return the favour."

His smile widened at Scott's thrashing attempts to free himself, he thoroughly enjoyed putting someone as unsubstantially arrogant as him in their place.

But he was interrupted by fast and heavy steps followed by a very familiar sound.

What the-

He snapped Scott's neck with a flick of his wrist and turned around.

There in the doorway stood Stark in one of his suits, hands raised and weapons ready. The Wiccans turned their guns on him but his armour protected him from harm and he attacked right back, his palms lighting up with pure energy.

For a moment Loki was frozen in his surprise but then he recovered and let his daggers materialise in his hands.

The fight, if it could even be called that, did not take long. Their attackers fell to the ground, one after another, some taken down by Loki's knives, some by Stark's energy blasts. And then it was over and silence fell over the room.

But not for long.

"I thought I told you to run!" Loki snapped as he strode towards the man.

The faceplate of the suit lifted up.

"Since when do I do what I'm told?" Stark shot back as if that was some kind of excuse.

Loki just glared at him.

"Look, I just couldn't leave you here. But there were six of them around the car so I had to get rid of them first and I had only one magazine and when I took them down and got the suit more of them came and this one guy had some real freaky mojo, he could make force fields so I had to-"

Loki pressed a finger to Stark's lips.

"Shut up, Stark," he ordered and leaned in to kiss the man before he could open his mouth to speak further.

He refrained from mentioning that technically Stark would have been too late to save him since Scott had shot him in the head.

"So," Stark spoke once their lips parted. "I see you've got your godly might back."

"I have," Loki replied, "but I will explain later.

"I promise," he added when the man did not look convinced.

Stark nodded and looked around them at all the bodies, the splintered furniture, the broken windows and walls full of holes.

"Damn, this looks like a warzone. What are we going to do?" he asked.

Loki just rolled his eyes and with a wave of his hand the bodies were gone. Stark just stared with wide eyes.

"You know you are a scary bastard sometimes?" the man asked.

"Oh, I do," Loki said with a grin.

Stark chuckled incredulously and then he stopped to think for a moment.

"Not to say your clean-up isn't effective but I think SHIELD will want to have a look at those bodies," he said then.

Loki raised his eyebrows.

"You want to call SHIELD?" he asked.

"I want to call the Avengers but Fury will tag along."

Loki took a few seconds to consider it but he could see it was reasonable, considering the situation.

"All right then."

.oOo.

It was two days later that they found themselves sat at a long table in a conference room in Stark Tower together with the rest of the Avengers. To say the atmosphere was tense would have been an outstanding understatement. Though Loki dared to say all murder attempts were a thing of the past.

He was aware of Barton's glare fixed on him. The archer had chosen a seat furthest away from him but on the opposite side of the table so he could still keep an eye on him. Romanoff was much subtler in her observation but Loki knew she was ready to act on the smallest hint of threat, not that it mattered though, she was no match for him.

Banner just looked like he would have rather been somewhere else, which Loki would have approved of fully since he could not deny the doctor's presence made him feel on edge, while the Captain ground his teeth so hard Loki thought something might snap in his jaw soon. But it was not Loki whom Rogers' fury was aimed at (mostly), it was Stark.

In fact they were all more or less angry with the man which had been mildly amusing for the first day.

Stark had tried to stir the conversation a few times over the past twenty minutes but all attempts had failed and eventually he had given up. Loki would have started a chat with Stark himself despite the other's obvious uneasiness at their familiarity since he did not care for them anyway. However he was not currently in the mood for talking because his own source of discomfort sat right across from him.

Thor had arrived the day before and since then Loki had successfully avoided him, until now. When they had entered the room he had made it very clear he had no desire to talk to the older god, though Thor had tried.

Loki did not know how he felt about his not-brother, not precisely. He was angry, that much was clear to him, so incredibly angry he wanted to scream and punch Thor in the face, hit him as long until he hit back. He was well aware this desire to fight would do him no good but damn, his fingers itched to clench into fists and strike. Beyond the anger, well, seeing Thor in front of him like this brought along an uncoordinated swirl of emotions that Loki did not want to make sense of.

They had been sitting there for about ten minutes when the door finally opened and Director Fury strode in with Agent Coulson in tow. For the past two days the Director's expression matched his name well and today was no exception.

Not surprising considering what was about to be talked through and the only one possible way it could end. Perhaps before Thor had arrived there had been a small question as to what the outcome would be but now Fury knew as well as Loki did that SHIELD had no leverage in demanding further punishment for him. So this meeting was held mostly for the benefit of the Avengers and though there were bound to be some protests from their side no real discussion would take place.

Fury and Coulson took their seats at the table.

"I will try to make this quick because the last two days I did nothing else than deal with this interplanetary bullshit," the Director barked, glaring at everyone in case someone dared to interrupt him and waste his time.

Oh, but they would.

"As you all know Loki here is no longer human, he has his powers back, which by my standards means he is a threat to this planet's security." Fury gave him a look that clearly wished him an early and painful death to which Loki only smiled sweetly. "As to why we weren't informed of his presence here in the first place," the man's glare shifted to Thor who returned it right back, "I didn't hear any valid argument from Thor."

The thunder god ground his teeth in supressed anger.

"I already told you I did not want you to interfere," he hissed. "Loki would not have redeemed himself had he been locked in a cell."

"And that would be such a shame, we wouldn't want that," Fury sneered. "What I said stands – no valid argument. But that doesn't matter, in fact nothing I said matters because as Loki and Thor kindly reminded me we had a deal with Asgard. After we defeated Loki we agreed to leave his punishment to Asgard and since he became 'worthy of his powers' again, whatever the fuck that means, his punishment is done and we can't lift a finger against him until he actually does something. So he's free to go."

The reaction was instantaneous.

"You have to be kidding me!" Barton snapped and the table shook as he slammed his hands down on it and stood up. "After everything he did here he will just walk away?! He gets to live a few months as a human and that's it? That's not a punishment, that's not even getting off easily, it's a joke!"

It was clear that everyone agreed with him, even Loki did, but that did not change a thing.

"Calm down, Barton, there's nothing we can do," Fury said.

"The hell I'm going to calm down!" the archer shouted. "He should spend the rest of his fucking life in prison and not run around free as if nothing happened! Damn, I should put an arrow through his eye and be done with it!"

"Agent Barton," Coulson spoke calmly, "Loki is still the younger prince of Asgard, a hostile act against him would probably not bode well for earth."

I took Barton a moment to reign his anger but in the end he sat back down though his hateful gaze did not leave Loki for a moment.

"I can assure you, agent Barton," Loki said evenly, "that if you should decide to 'act hostile' the only one you would have to deal with is me. My title is of little to no value, as I am sure."

"Loki, that is not true," Thor jumped in before Barton could retort. "You redeemed yourself, none can argue that, and there is no reason why father should not accept you back."

"Even if he did I never said I want to come back," Loki hissed.

Thor's expression turned pained and he took a deep breath before speaking.

"Asgard is your home, it is where you belong."

"Oh, please," he sneered. "I know even you do not think this was a sufficient punishment for my crimes, I know it was not and I know you are surprised I regained my powers this quickly and you doubt Odin's decision."

"I am sure father had reasons for what he did," Thor stated.

"But of course he had! There is always a purpose in what he does. Your father just thought I would never get back what he took and that I would wither and die like any other mortal!" Loki spat out.

"That is not true!"

"It was the perfect solution," Loki continued, not deterred in the slightest. "Odin would keep his face by not executing his _son_ but he would get rid of me all the same. And _I_ would be the one to look bad, the unworthy prince, unable to redeem himself."

Thor shook his head but there was clearly doubt on his face.

"Stop this," he growled. "Stop making up imaginary slights."

Loki's nails dug into his palms and the sudden flare of anger. How could-

There was a warm hand squeezing his under the table. Stark kept his eyes trained on Thor but where no one could see his thumb drew circles on the back on Loki's hand and it should have been infuriating, should have fuelled his anger further but instead it was calming, a point to ground himself with.

"I say that's enough of family crap for today," Stark spoke, letting go of Loki's hand to put both his hands on the table. "Back to the point – deal with Asgard, we don't have anything against Loki, he can go."

Everyone glared at Stark but the man just smiled.

"I'd say you would do well if you just stayed quiet," Romanoff said with a dangerous edge to her voice.

"Sorry, not my strong point."

"We all know that," Banner remarked and Stark grinned at him.

Rogers cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Back to the point," he repeated Stark's words. "I know we can't arrest Loki right now but I think considering the circumstances he should be supervised if he wants to stay here."

"Supervised, Captain?" Loki raised his eyebrows. "You think you can do that?"

"I just won't believe you just magically turned good."

"Don't underestimate my natural charm," Stark remarked. "It's rather magical."

"Shut up, Tony," Rogers snapped.

Fury looked around the table before turning to Loki.

"Rogers is right. If you want to be here I want to be aware of that," he said in a commanding tone which alone made Loki want to refuse.

"You do not always get what you want," Loki stated. "As you are aware there is something I want from you and I suppose that your answer have not changed."

They had discussed the sceptre, on Stark's insistence, as well as the chitauri threat and Thanos. But as Loki had known even before he had asked the Director refused to give up the sceptre.

"Is that a condition?" Fury asked, ignoring the questioning glances from the Avengers.

"Not at all, merely a good example," Loki said. "But if it makes you sleep better I will keep you informed of my presence here."

"Why should we believe you?" Barton spat.

Loki smirked. "You should not. It would be very foolish of you."

Fury just sighed and stood up, Coulson followed.

"Let's wrap this up," the Director said and then looked to Loki. "Because of that deal we can't arrest you but I'll be waiting and when you step out of the line I'm hauling your ass into a cell."

Loki suppressed a grin, letting just the corners of his mouth curve slightly up. He would have wanted to see them try.

"Understood, Director," he said.

"Then I'll be on my way. Romanoff, Barton, come along, I want to talk to you."

Fury walked towards the door and the other SHIELD agents followed him out of the room.

"I'd say that went well," Stark remarked after a moment.

That earned him a very poisonous glare from Rogers.

"What exactly went well here?" he asked. "Tony, he's a criminal, a murderer, he should be sitting in a prison and you are here being happy that he is off the hook?!"

Stark shrugged. "No one got into a fistfight, I'd say that's good. Also, I'm a big fan of this redemption business and I agree with Miguel here that Loki can't do that from prison."

"Your faith in me is flattering, Stark," Loki said, standing up.

"Loki, wait," Thor spoke and stood up as well.

Loki was not in the mood for this, he wondered if he would ever be.

"No, Thor, there is nothing I want to discuss with you."

"Please," the older god was making his way around the table to Loki's side, "just listen to me."

"No," he said more calmly than he felt as the placed his hand on Stark's shoulder.

Then they were gone.

.oOo.

Stark fell right on his ass when they reappeared in the man's living room and there was suddenly no chair under him.

"Geez! Warn me next time, would you?" he complained and picked himself up from the floor.

"Stop your whining," Loki replied.

"Oh, my apologies for bothering you, your highness." Stark made a mock bow before heading for the bar. "Do you want a drink?"

Loki nodded and followed the man across the room to sit on a tall barstool.

"So I can't help but ask," Stark began, pouring them both a glass of amber liquor, "since Fury is still not really thrilled by the idea of giving you your party stick back, what are you going to do?"

Loki picked up his glass and brought it to his face. It smelled... pleasant.

"The answer is obvious, I'm going to take it," he said simply and took a sip, liking the taste. "If you had not insisted on me asking for the sceptre in the first place it would have been much easier since now they will simply assume it was me."

"It will be you," Stark pointed out.

"Yes but you heard your dear Director, no stepping out of line. If the sceptre disappears after I asked for it they will not need a proof it was me, it will be clear."

"So what now?" Stark frowned.

Loki grinned and finished his drink in one gulp, tapping his glass to ask for another.

"I will simply have to make sure there is no theft they can connect me with."

"I hate it when you talk in riddles to confuse me," Stark said and refilled their glasses.

"You love it," Loki stated matter-of-factly.

"Maybe," the man admitted. "No theft you say. But there has to be a theft, you said you will take it."

Stark waited as second for Loki to say something, regarding him with questioning gaze, but the god stayed quiet. So Stark went on.

"Ok, so it just means SHIELD won't know the sceptre went missing which as far as I know you can do only one way, switch it for a copy."

"Very well, Stark." Loki raised his glass in a toast. "That is what I am going to do."

"Do you think that will work?" Stark asked. "It would have to be perfect, looks, materials, properties, everything. Where would you even get that?"

"Oh, please." Loki shook his head. "I already have it."

Stark's eyes widened in surprise as Loki summoned the copy into his hands.

"Yeah, I... didn't expect that. Mortal here, but one would say I'd be used to magic solving everything by now," the man said and sipped his drink.

Loki smirked. "Maybe in time you will."

"Given time... but probably no," the man replied and then his expression turned pensive.

"What is it?" the god asked.

"You know," Stark began, "we haven't talked about it since you got your mojo back. The circumstances changed."

Loki kept his expression guarded not to show too much of what he felt. Surprise, anticipation, nervousness, anxiety. The circumstances had changed and there was a question to be asked.

"Do you still want me to stay?"

"Yes. I still want you," Stark replied. "Do you want to stay?"

Loki would not have admitted it but it was a relief to hear Stark say it like this.

"I want you," Loki said, letting his lips curve in a hint of smirk. "And I would stay with you."

"Good," Stark grinned.

"But if you think I am going to join your team of so-called heroes you are mistaken," Loki warned him.

"I'm not asking you to do that," Stark said. "I just want to give us a shot."

Loki did not know what it was exactly about this man that drove him in so strongly, perhaps it was just everything, good and bad combined and mixed into one chaotic tangle that was Tony Stark. But what Loki knew was that he wanted this, it was almost unbelievable that he could actually have it, no matter for how long that would be, and he was not letting go.

. .oOo.

A week later Tony woke up to the feeling of warm body in his arms and soft fingers running over the back of his hand, drawing nonessential patterns on his skin. It was still barely dawn. At times like these when he just lay in his bed with Loki, their bodies wrapped around each other, with nothing else to occupy his mind he still could not quite believe the god was here with him, in his bedroom, in his tower, in his life.

Loki was certainly not someone he had ever imagined himself in a serious relationship with. The guy was fucked up, crazy, damaged goods and the issues of his issues probably had their issues but it was not like Tony himself was a prime example of sanity. They made an odd pair, sure, but somehow it just worked. And Tony liked how they worked.

"Good morning, princess," he mumbled, knowing fully well it would piss Loki off.

"Call me princess one more time, Stark, and I will gut you and hang you on your bowels."

Tony chuckled, knowing an empty threat when he heard one.

"That's a way to start a day," he retorted and pressed a soft kiss to the back of Loki's neck.

The god hummed contentedly and turned in his arms to face him. His hair was a mess, his muscles still relaxed from sleep even as he put an arm over Tony's side to pull himself closer and a soft smile on his face. Tony liked seeing him like this, without any of the pretence he put up every time he was around other people, often around Tony as well.

He suddenly remembered a question he had wanted to ask but in the mess that had been their lives since Loki got his powers back he had never gotten to it.

"Loki?" he spoke to get the god's attention since Loki had closed his eyes again.

"Yes?"

"I've just been wondering," Tony began and Loki chuckled.

"You are always wondering," the god said.

"Well, yes," he replied. "But this time I wondered, back when the Wiccans attacked us and you told me to run, did you know you would get your powers back?"

He had expected Loki to tense at that or at least shift but the god stayed relaxed in his arms.

"Yes," he replied simply.

Well, since Tony had had no idea what the answer would have been it had been bound to be a surprise.

"Then why didn't you do it sooner?" Tony asked, frowning.

"Elaborate," Loki said with raised eyebrows.

"If you knew sacrificing yourself would give you your powers back why did you bother to hunt down the spell to contact someone who you didn't even know would be able to help you instead of just, well, sacrificing yourself?" he clarified.

And Loki was giving him that look, that smile that made him feel like a child, like he was missing some basic and very simple point and like the god had never expected him to get it without explanation in the first place since he was... a child. And, yeah, that was disturbing, he should stop.

"That is not how it works," Loki said. "You cannot decide to sacrifice yourself, not like that. If I had chosen to give my life for a random human simply because I knew I would have regained my powers by that it would not have been a real sacrifice. I would have been doing it for my benefit. To make a sacrifice like this you must be willing to do it for someone else."

Tony just stared at Loki with wide eyes as the implications sunk in.

"So you mean..?" he tried but didn't really know how to phrase it, how did one even asked this?

But Loki didn't need the whole question.

"Yes, I mean that even though I knew I would not die I would have if that had been the price," the god replied.

Well, shit, if that wasn't quite the confession.

"You said you would fight for me," Loki continued. "I would fight for you."

Tony couldn't help it, he smiled and pulled Loki in to a kiss.

"That's like the most romantic thing I've ever heard from you," he said with a grin when they parted.

Admittedly it didn't sound particularly romantic but then it was coming from Loki.

"Is that so?" the god mused and wound his fingers through Tony's hair.

"Hmm, yes," Tony murmured. "And you are such a romantic soul so it's saying something."

Loki smirked and pushed Tony onto his back so he could curl up against his side.

"It is one of my better assets." He sighed as he settled more comfortably.

They stayed like that, Loki dozing off against him but Tony didn't feel like falling asleep again, he thought maybe he should say something.

"Loki?"

The god hummed in acknowledgement so at least he hadn't fallen asleep yet.

"You know, I-"

"Before you say anything," Loki interrupted him, not moving from his spot. "This has really been quite enough sentiment for some time for me so bear that in mind."

It made Tony chuckle in disbelief.

"Did you want to tell me something?" the god asked innocently.

"No, not at all."

It could wait, in fact it would have been better if Tony put off any further heart-to-heart chat to another time. They were not good at this, showing others how they felt, much less _telling_ them, and today Loki had already made quite a big step forward in that regard.

And it was ok, they had time.

**Author's Note:**

> And that is the end. It took me forever to write this story and I very much hope you enjoed it. Don't forget to leave me a comment, it would make my day.
> 
> A big thank you to the awesome [ Eatherstar ](http://eatherstar.tumblr.com/) , who made some fantastic art for this story [ picture1 ](http://fav.me/d6lpl9l) [ picture2 ](http://fav.me/d6lq9n6)


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